REMATCH, the latest title developed bySifumaker Sloclap, has garnered over one million players since its release just a few days ago. Its stellar success could mean that we finally have a true competitor to the long-standing, long-reigning arcade football king,Rocket League.
REMATCH, much likeRocket League, is an arcade football (or soccer in the language of freedom) title where two small teams play ball with wild and quick movement and abilities. And that there’s a market for such a thing has been evident for a long time, given how popular and for how longRocket Leaguehas been. Now,REMATCHhas managed to hit the million-player milestone,according to its developers, with nearly100,000 concurrent players during peak hours on Steam.
The game also launched on Game Pass a few days after its initial release, which would explain its massive Steam numbers despite its presence on Xbox’s service.
There are two key distinctions betweenRocket LeagueandREMATCH. There are no cars but rather well-animated human characters playing ball, and the main focus is on two, 5v5 matches instead of 3v3. While there are other nuances, this is the gist of it. However, both games play in much the same way, have high arcade concepts and do away with realism for the sake of fun, fast-paced, competitive gameplay.
Speaking of which, both are team-based, and, though you can solo through the opposing side if you’re good enough,you’ll find that playing alone is nigh-impossible for most people, be itRocket LeagueorREMATCH.
Their similarities are quite obvious, then, and it’s no surprise that a new and just different enough experience would sweep through the arcade soccer market.REMATCH, with its incredible success just days after its release, could mean it’s on track to become the next fad in the genre, either overtaking or competing withRocket Leaguedirectly.
In less than a month,Rocket Leaguewill be a decade old, and it was about time someone came in to supplant the old king and inaugurate a new era for this unique genre.
It’s good to see that it wasn’t a game that is a straight-up copy of theRocket Leagueexperience with a different coat of paint, but rather a newer take on an established formula that pushes it forward and opens it up to further iterations by other studios.
If anything, it proved there are more than a few players eager to jump on such games, andRematchhas all the potential to be remembered and known by the gaming world just as much asRocket Leagueis, ten years after its release.
Though I will say thatRocket Leaguestill pulls an average of about 30,000 concurrent playersduring peak hours, and we’ll have to wait and see ifREMATCHcan do the same in 2035.
