‘Sifu’ Creators Are Breathing New Life Into A Playing Field Desperate For Change

This year’s Game Awards was a pretty big improvement over last year’s event. It finally some acknowledged the layoffs that have torn the industry apart over the last two years. Award winners were given ample time to thank their loved ones and colleagues without being rushed off stage. And perhaps most important to the more than 100 million viewers who tuned in, there were some genuine earth-shattering reveals, including Naughty Dog’s next project, The Witcher 4, and an Okami sequel (with Hideki Kamiya at the helm no less) that no one saw coming.

In a night so chockfull of highlights, however, one lower-profile reveal has remained buzzing in the back of my skull. Sloclap, the developer of the in a Friday story, “It can be more satisfying to serve the perfect assist than to actually score yourself.” Different positions on a team will have specific mechanics, making them equivalent to classes in a competitive multiplayer game.

Which brings me to my only reservation. I will admit that the “multiplayer-only” aspect of this does have me wary. A game that looks this fun to play is one I’d love to enjoy by myself on occasion. I’m not asking for something as in-depth as a Franchise Mode (where players manage the ins and outs of a team) or whatever. But some sort of single-player campaign or season would be awesome. Perhaps that could come further down the line.

I also wonder if its soccer presentation will leave it in limbo. Without real-life players attached, Rematch will likely go ignored by the most diehard footy fans purchasing EA Sports FC every year. For non-sports fans, the fact that this action-heavy game takes place on something resembling a real soccer field is enough of a turn-off to ignore it forever.

It’s a hell of a risk for Sloclap. But that’s part of what makes this game so intriguing. It’s exactly the sort of odd, out-of-left-field idea that I want to see a team of creatives make. If there’s any genre that could use shake-up from some fresh minds, it’s sports games. And it’s admirable for a studio as high profile as Sloclap to take up that challenge.

Rematch is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in Summer 2025.