Rematch is officially out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and that means it’s time for developer Sloclap to keep an eye on the game’s performance. While seeing how the network holds up with the influx of new players will be important, the studio already has a few priorities for future updates to Rematch.
From crossplay implementation to desynchronization concerns and future gameplay updates, there is a pretty beefy list of plans for the new competitive soccer title.
Planned Rematch Updates
As mentioned, the list of planned updates for Rematch is quite long. From immediate plans to long-term goals, there seems to be no shortage of ideas coming down the pipeline.
In the short term, Sloclap’s focus is on four main priorities: Crossplay, lag and performance, desynchronization, and general bugs and stability. The team went into a bit more detail on the key areas they are tackling (pun intended) right now.
1. Lag & Performance
We’re working on identifying the causes behind lag, stuttering, and frame drops affecting gameplay. Our team is currently implementing performance optimizations and settings adjustments to significantly improve stability. Likewise, we are continuously working on improving server stability to bring you a smoother gameplay experience across the board.
2. Desynchronization
Server and client desync has been impacting match quality. For instance, we are aware of issues where players would sometimes be unable to interact with the ball, with player characters and the ball seemingly moving across the pitch unpredictably. We have deployed two hot fixes during Early Access to bring corrections to important issues, and we’ll continuously work on enhancing client and server synchronization along the way.
3. Bugs & Stability
We’re actively resolving major game-breaking bugs such as crashes, freezes after goals, and menu lockouts. Regular patches and hotfixes will be delivered frequently over the coming weeks to iron out bugs, bring new features, and make Rematch the best it can be.
Regarding crossplay, Sloclap says that they faced “unforeseen technical complexities which prevented us from having this feature ready in time.” They added that they regret not communicating the issues sooner, and are sorry for the frustration it’s caused players who were looking forward to the feature.
“It’s very important for us that our players are able to enjoy Rematch with their friends, so along with bugfixes, crossplay is our absolute highest priority, we’re committed to delivering this feature swiftly, and we’ll share a more precise deadline as soon as possible,” they said.
The team also plans on pushing daily hotfixes to address various issues along with bigger updates for larger concerns.
Long Term Rematch Plans
Aside from the aforementioned four priorities Sloclap has, the studio has a roadmap of various features and improvements it wants to add to the game. The updates are broken down into four aspects and include features such as club creation, spectating squad matches, a tournament system, and more.
You can check out those plans below:
- Core gameplay: in the coming months, we’ll be looking into a variety of topics: improving the sliding tackle, tweaks to goalkeeper mechanics, to the dribbling system, to wall contacts… these are still to be confirmed, and naturally we will take into account community feedback in our roadmap. Our general objective is to keep adding depth and granularity to our mechanics, to make the game as interesting as possible in a competitive environment. As we move forward, we will deploy test servers so that we can try out new features and improvements in a live environment, in order to gather feedback from our community before deploying on the main game.
- Competitive features: beyond improvements to core gameplay, we are currently designing a tournament system, a leaderboard system for players above Elite ranking, as well as a club creation system, to provide more variety in the competitive experience.
- Social components: crossplay is the major one here, and our top priority, but other features are also being worked on, such as being able to spectate your squad’s game when you join a squad, allowing players to team up and rematch with teammates they enjoyed playing with, and more.
- Casual play features: besides new quick play game modes, and a rotating game mode queue, we will be working on implementing AI-controlled bots so that players are able to train with and against AIs, in workshops or in dedicated game modes.
“Please remember that we are not a huge team, and that these features take time, so don’t expect all this by the end of the year!” Sloclap said. “We will communicate on a more precise roadmap for upcoming seasons as soon as we have better visibility on when we can deliver on these intentions.”
What are you hoping to see added or addressed with Rematch in future updates? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
For more Insider Gaming, check out our hands-on preview of Marvel Cosmic Invasion. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Insider Gaming newsletter.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
More from Mike Straw
