Following the success of Sifu, developers Sloclap pivoted to making a sports game with REMATCH , its take on football/soccer. As a 5v5 online multiplayer arcade game that infuses much more action than you would get from a typical game in real life, many were looking forward to playing with friends natively or through crossplay. Unfortunately, the launch in Early Access came with the caveat that crossplay won’t be available, and the studio has come out to apologise.
In a blog post, the team shared that there were technical problems that were unable to be resolved in time for the game’s release. Instead of holding things up, the decision was made to push on ahead with the feature to come in the future.
“We understand many of you were looking forward to playing REMATCH across platforms from day one,” the studio shared. “We did our utmost to include crossplay at launch, but REMATCH is the studio’s first crossplay title, and we faced unforeseen technical complexities which prevented us from having this feature ready in time. We should have communicated as soon as it became apparent that crossplay wouldn’t be available at launch, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience and frustration it caused to some of our players.
“It’s very important for us that our players are able to enjoy REMATCH with their friends, so along with bugfixes, crossplay is our absolute highest priority, we’re committed to delivering this feature swiftly, and we’ll share a more precise deadline as soon as possible. We already have a basic working version from a technical standpoint, but we need to implement the relevant interfaces, before debugging and polishing it, and finally passing console certifications successfully — all this takes time but we are doing our best to move forward quickly.”
Over 1.9 million players tried out the game’s recent beta, and its popularity definitely points to a sustainable community for Sloclap to build on from launch. Other than the lack of crossplay, there are also performance issues that need to be ironed out, something the developers are well aware of.
New updates will focus on addressing issues, particularly those related to lag, stuttering, and framerate drops. Aside from crossplay, Sloclap will look to improve the REMATCH offering with new features and content. This can be in the form of core gameplay tweaks, more competitive features, social aspects, and even casual play for those looking for a more relaxing time.
“Please remember that we are not a huge team, and that these features take time, so don’t expect all this by the end of the year!” the team added.
REMATCH is now available in Early Access on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
