Soccer loves nothing more than an underdog, and hot off the heels of Crystal Palace's dream FA Cup final victory against Man City comes another surprising winner. Rematch, the new fast-paced, five-a-side soccer game from Sifu developer Sloclap, has just kicked off its final beta ahead of its June release date, and the response has been tremendous. In its first day, the playtest has already broken into the top ten games on Steam, suring the lifetime highs achieved by the biggest player on the pitch, EA FC.
Jokingly branded "Fifu" by the community, soccer game with a focus on non-stop action. Eschewing the rules of traditional association football, there are no fouls, offsides, or pauses – in many ways, it feels like Rocket League coming full circle back to the sport that originally inspired it. Each player controls one member of the team, and there's plenty of potential for skilled one-on-one tricks and coordinated team plays alike. If the current player count is anything to go by, the formula looks to be working.
In its first day on Steam, the Rematch beta has peaked at a concurrent player count of 146,573 active players. That's an impressive stat – higher than any of the EA Sports FC games (or FIFA before it) have managed to reach. Granted, we're comparing a free playtest to a full-price product, but Rematch's climb into the Steam top ten, putting it ahead of Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals over the past day, is still a sign that Sloclap might have a real firecracker on their hands.
In a new blog post, the studio also takes some time to discuss the Rematch monetization system. "Rematch is a game we intend to keep working on for as long as possible: balancing, polishing, adding new game modes, new features, new maps, new outfits… we have plenty of ideas, and we'll be analyzing all from our community to make sure we're going in the right direction," Sloclap writes.
To this ongoing development, the team will offer "fully cosmetic purchases" with "no pay-to-win, [and] no lootboxes or hidden systems." This will include a season with free and ('captain') tiers, although Sloclap notes that players who complete the entirety of a season's captain will earn enough of the currency, Quants, to purchase the one for the following season. "All customization is purely cosmetic and fully optional," it concludes.
The Rematch beta is live now on Steam, and runs until Saturday May 31 at 5am PT / 8am ET / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST. The full game launches Thursday June 19, priced at $29.99 / £20.99. You can request access to the playtest via the store page, or receive an invite from a friend who is already taking part, and Sloclap says it intends to open access to all players on Steam as the test continues.
To keep things on the right foot, take a look through our pick of the best multiplayer games if you're just seeking the spirit of competition.
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