Rematch creative director on making a sports game for everyone
“One of our game designers said: ‘Other games are football simulations — we are a football player simulation,’ and he was perfectly right!”
I’ve loved sports games my whole life, but lately, they’ve been largely restricted to two categories: AAA simulators like NBA 2K or Madden, or glorified-Excel-sheet management simulators like Football Manager (note: I say this with love and an embarrassing number of hours played). There are exceptions, to be sure, but the market is dominated by games trying to replicate the real thing as closely as possible, which inevitably results in shortcomings when you see the seams of the simulation. (Finding my “Goldilocks” difficulty in the F1 game to make the game feel just hard enough is always a process.)
So when I heard about Rematch, the new soccer game by Sifu and Absolver developers Sloclap, I was immediately intrigued. I enjoyed Sifu – a martial arts beat ‘em up game with a fun roguelite-inspired gimmick – and the idea of a developer group going from martial arts action to soccer enticed me.
Built with multiplayer in mind and with an arcade-style aesthetic, Rematch has a very different approach to sports game design. It takes away a lot of the complications of soccer rules (no offsides, no fouls, no out-of-bounds) while maintaining the core vibe of playing the sport. It might seem silly, but the people calling it “Rocket League without cars” are absolutely right.
Having played the game in the beta, I find Rematch lives up to a lot of that promise. It feels like playing pick-up soccer at the park rather than the buttoned-up, stifling experience of EA FC or other sports simulators that aim to recreate the highest level of play. It’s a breath of fresh air for sports games, which often feel caught between their desire to simulate the real thing and the limits of the technology available.
Rematch comes out June 19 on PC and consoles, and I think it’s going to be a big hit that captures sports fans and non-sports fans alike. I was happy to chat with creative director Pierre Tarno over e-mail about the design approach for Rematch and why Sifu and a soccer game may not be as different as you think.
From the outside, jumping from Sifu to Rematch seems like a big change. What drew you to a soccer title as the next project?
At first glance, it might seem like a leap from Sifu—but there’s a clear throughline across all Sloclap games: they’re about bodies in motion, with tight, responsive controls and a strong sense of physicality.
Rematch comes from a deep love of third-person action games, online team-based games —and of course, football. We wanted to capture the beauty and creativity of the sport in a fresh way. And like with Sifu, we took an approach that is credible, grounded, but can still be totally epic!
Where was there overlap between the two titles, and were there any places where that surprised you?
There are quite a few similarities with our previous work: Rematch is still a third-person action game, with hand-crafted animations, a stylized visual identity, and—above all—precise, reactive gameplay running at 60fps. It’s a formula that really puts player skill and decision-making front and center. Our experience with action games and online gameplay was very important in bringing Rematch to life.
What is your or the team’s background with soccer and soccer fandom?
Some people in the team love football, and follow their favorite teams religiously. Some don’t care about it much, but even those who are not fans of the sport enjoy playing Rematch. Everybody gets very passionate when we run internal tournaments!
Also, quite a few team members regularly play futsal together in intense 5v5 matches, just like Rematch!
What do you or the team like about what sports games can offer?
I personally play many more action games and online multiplayer games. The very realistic/simulation aspect of most sports isn’t my favorite type of experience - which is why I wanted to do something that felt very different!
What do you think is missing from the current sports game space, and how are you hoping Rematch will fill that gap?
Most football games today focus on solo or 1v1 gameplay. With Rematch, we wanted to shift the focus to team-based mechanics and tactical cooperation. It changes everything when you control only one player, with the action coming and going around you, alternating between moments of careful observation and positioning, and bursts of high-intensity close-quarters action.
Another key element is the camera perspective: many football titles use a top-down view, which can create a sense of distance between the player and the action. We wanted a more immersive, on-the-pitch experience.
Finally, by keeping the gameplay accessible and giving it an arcade feel, we want to deliver an experience that’s, above all, fun and satisfying to play!
What was your approach to balancing fun arcade vs realistic simulation aspects for a sports game?
The game has an arcade feel, non-stop action, very intense, reactive, with precise controls and mechanical challenges. At the same time, it remains credible. The abilities of players on the pitch are grounded in real-life actions that amazing athletes can perform, and the tactics are very similar to what you see in actual football matches. Ferdinand Jan, one of our game designers, once said: “Other games are football simulations — we are a football player simulation,” and he was perfectly right! While the game has arcade components, I think Rematch simulates the feeling of actually playing football much more than other games do.
What were the major driving philosophies between Rematch’s design choices?
We built Rematch around three core pillars:
Feel like an amazing player: learn to control a powerful athlete, capable of epic moves
Feel part of a team: success comes from smart, collective actions
Feel the pressure: matches should feel intense and competitive—like high-level pro football
These ideas guided everything from gameplay mechanics to animation to match pacing.
What were some of the hardest decisions the team had to make in terms of settling on the game’s design and scope?
That’s a difficult question! There were a lot of challenges along the way — in design, animation, online programming. We iterated a lot, and one thing that drove us was the desire to keep things simple and really focus on the essence of football. And football is a simple game: at its core, it’s about being in the right place, at the right time, and in the right dynamic (direction and speed).
We wanted to stay true to that core, so we set aside anything that didn’t directly support that vision and our creative pillars. Besides, this is a live game — and what remained on the cutting board gave us tons of ideas for future content and new game modes.
What are you hoping the style and aesthetic communicates or evokes?
From day one, we knew we wanted Rematch to celebrate teamplay and cooperation. It’s really about the joy of playing football with friends.
We also chose to set the game in the future — not tied to current clubs or famous players, but focused on the essence of football itself.
That choice allowed us to imagine a world where humanity has made the right calls, where values like resilience, unity, and collective effort are celebrated — on and off the pitch. The environments should also reflect that — they’re designed to be coherent with the game’s mechanics, which are very collaborative.
Sports games sometimes have trouble pulling in players who aren’t interested in sports. How did you approach that dynamic in design?
I think that even players who don’t typically follow football will be surprised by how much they can enjoy Rematch. The arcade feel keeps it accessible and fun, so even if you're not a football fan, there’s still a lot to enjoy. The game is intense and dynamic, and above all, it’s about working together.
What else do you want players to know about Rematch?
Like football, Rematch is about both individual skill and team effort — both are necessary to win games and climb the ranks.
It’s critical to play collectively and pass the ball within your team, but sometimes, you also have to dribble your way out of situations, create space, and generate opportunities.
Don’t keep the ball for too long, though — you’re vulnerable in possession, and you will get tackled. The tide can turn very quickly, so any mistake can be punished fast!
Finally, remember: defeat is an opportunity to improve. Whatever your level, the most important thing is to have fun!