Rematch Fans Are Begging Sloclap To Fix The Servers

Summary

Rematch’s beta is more popular than ever.
There are persistent network issues that affect the playing experience.
Desync and netcode issues have plagued every Rematch beta.

I’m an unapologetic lover of Rematch — a unique take on the football genre from Sifu developer Sloclap. I travelled to Paris to preview the game, and I was super impressed by how the game made me feel like I was playing a game of five-a-side with friends, something you don’t find in a simulator like EA Sports FC. Since then, I’ve sunk about 20 hours into the various betas Sloclap have held.

Sloclap is currently hosting the game’s final beta before launch on June 19. The beta, open to both PC and console players, is wildly popular, peaking at over 140,000 players on Steam.

If one were to peruse Rematch’s subreddit or official Discord server, one would see evidence of a very passionate player base. However, these players are worried about the long-term success of Rematch if the core issues of server stability and netcode aren’t fixed.

Lag Slam

Network issues have dogged every one of Rematch’s betas. If a player is lagging, you’re going to know about it. These players teleport around the pitch, destabilising the match for everyone.

In a game where precise inputs are vital for success, it can be incredibly frustrating to dribble past a player on your screen, only for the ball to teleport to their feet after a second or two. Likewise, as a goalkeeper, you’ll often find that brilliant reactionary saves don’t count as the ball teleports into the back of the net because of desync.

Several threads on Rematch’s subreddit are solely concerned with network issues: “Servers are really bad…”; “Is it me or was the previous beta better?”; “I truly hope we get a hotfix for the lag tomorrow”; “Game is unplayable this test.”

The game is still in beta, but Rematch has had persistent network problems throughout every beta. Dedicated fans of the game are concerned that a poor open beta could lead to players not purchasing the game at launch, hurting the potential longevity of Rematch.

It’s no secret that network issues are one of the most difficult problems to diagnose and fix in game development, and there’s not always an easy fix.

Rematch releases June 19 for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.