I've seen lots of attempts to recreate the success of Rocket League over the past decade, but none have come close. Rematch might finally, actually do it.
The multiplayer soccer game ('Rocket League but with feet,' as I'm calling it here) is having an open beta on Steam this weekend, and has already surpassed 100,000 concurrent players.
Attracting lots of players during a free beta doesn't necessarily mean that Rematch will sell a bazillion copies when it releases this summer—it'll cost $30—but it also isn't meaningless. Concord had a free beta on Steam before it launched, too, and not very many people played it. That was when I knew that the doomed FPS was really in trouble. Conversely, today's success suggests that Rematch could do very well.
Where Remtach differs most from Rocket League is in the controls. Rocket League is fundamentally a physics game—you are manually bouncing the ball around by driving and flying into it—whereas Rematch has more traditional sports game controls. That makes it a little less appealing to me (there's nothing like executing an aerial Rocket League goal), but clearly there's room for a grounded, not-rocket-powered version of the idea.
"One of the things I love about making games is that there is no secret formula or anything, but the best way—or maybe actually the only way—to make a commercial success is to just make a very good game," Tarno said.
If you want to try out Rematch this weekend, you can request access to the beta by hitting the button on the Steam page. It took a few minutes, but we were all granted access—and clearly over 100,000 others were—so it doesn't seem like there's a limit.
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