SloClap, the developer of the online soccer game "Rematch," has released a statement addressing the absence of crossplay functionality. The studio apologized to the community and acknowledged that it should have informed players sooner that the feature would not be ready for launch.
Rematch, developed by the team behind Sifu and Absolver, is a 5v5 online multiplayer arcade soccer game presented in third-person view. The game’s recent open beta was a major success, attracting 1.9 million participants across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. However, fans expressed disappointment when SloClap confirmed just hours before the early access release that Rematch would not support cross-platform play at launch.
In a blog post released to coincide with the official launch of Rematch on June 19, SloClap detailed the reasons behind this decision.
“We know many of you were excited to play Rematch with friends on different platforms from day one,” the studio stated.
“We worked tirelessly to include crossplay at launch, but as Rematch is our studio's first cross-platform project, we ran into unexpected technical hurdles that prevented the feature from being ready in time. We should have communicated this as soon as it became clear that crossplay wasn't feasible for launch, and we sincerely apologize for the frustration this caused our players.
“Ensuring that players can enjoy Rematch with their friends is a top priority. In addition to addressing bugs, crossplay is our main focus. We are dedicated to rolling out this feature as soon as possible and will share a more specific timeline once available. Technically, a basic version is already functional, but we still need to integrate the necessary interfaces, conduct debugging and optimization, and secure approval from console platform certifications—this process takes time, but we are moving as swiftly as we can.”
The post also addressed performance issues that players encountered during the early access phase, highlighting that resolving these problems is a key concern. Issues included lag, stuttering, and frame rate dips that impacted the overall experience. Server and client synchronization problems have also affected match quality.
“For example, we are aware of occasional problems where players are unable to interact with the ball, or where players and the ball appear to move erratically across the field,” SloClap noted. The team is actively working on these issues. Additionally, effort is being directed toward fixing critical bugs that result in crashes, post-goal freezes, and menu lockups.
Beyond these immediate fixes, SloClap mentioned that it is planning future updates that will introduce new content and gameplay enhancements. The studio’s focus is centered on four key areas: refining core gameplay mechanics, adding competitive elements such as a tournament system, a leaderboard for Elite-tier players, and a club creation tool, improving social features including crossplay and the ability to spectate squad matches, and implementing casual features like AI-controlled bots for practice matches.
SloClap concluded by noting that as a small studio, developing these features will take time. “Please keep in mind that we're not a large team, so bringing all these features to life will require patience. Don't expect everything to arrive before the end of the year!” the studio wrote.
Despite the initial issues and the unavailability of crossplay, Rematch has been well received on Steam, where it holds a “Mostly Positive” user rating. As of this writing, the game has attracted 35,595 concurrent players on Valve’s platform—a number that is anticipated to grow as the game enters its first weekend.
