REMATCH is out now and works great on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck

REMATCH is a new competitive Football game from Sloclap, that really is just like Rocket League with feet.

Yes I know, that's what actual Football is, but it's the mechanics of it that make it very close to the feel of Rocket League. Not just because of the smaller teams (3v3, 4v4 and 5v5), but also about you controlling a dedicated individual. It's a game that's as much about the individual as it is about the whole team. Although, there's clearly plenty of players that think it's a solo sport with hogging the ball as much as possible but that's expected for a game like this.

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Compared with the initial Beta, it's nice to see a full intro tutorial in the game now to actually teach you some of the basic controls. It's done really nicely with a little mini-story told through a few short cut-scenes too. Feels very fitting for the game and doesn't take long to keep you away from the main action of online play.

There are some issues with it overall though and not Linux specific. There's a number of niggling issues, and some clear server lag at times. But hey, practically every multiplayer game launches with at least some server problems, it's a complicated thing to get it right when you don't entirely know how many people are going to be jumping in. I'll give them a fair little allowance on that for now.

Desktop Linux

My testing has been with Proton 9.0-4 and it has been really damn good fun. The anti-cheat (Easy Anti-Cheat) is enabled and so there's no issues playing it online. The only bit that didn't seem to work is the Steam Overlay while playing. You're definitely going to want a controller for this one, and it works great with my 8BitDo Ultimate 2.

As for performance though, it's been good. On Ultra details at 2560x1440, it's been smoothly over 100FPS constantly on Desktop Linux (Kubuntu 25.04) with my Ryzen 5800x and Radeon 6800 XT.

Steam Deck

For Steam Deck it ran okay during the Beta, enough to get it to easily stick to 30FPS and a bit higher. Valve note with the Steam Deck Playable / SteamOS Compatible rating it has some small text and may need you to manually bring up the on-screen keyboard if needed. Valve also note launcher issues, but there isn't a launcher, as it boots directly into the game so there's really no fuss there.

As for Steam Deck performance now it's out. It's actually even better! On Low details on the Steam Deck LCD it will easily stick right up to 60FPS during 3v3 matches. However, the bigger 5v5 matches do bring the performance down, but we're still talking around 50FPS.

I'm really happy with it. Text sizing also seems fine. I really think this could be bumped up to Steam Deck Verified if the on-screen keyboard is made automatic (which I've yet to need).

With that in mind on Steam Deck you could easily bump up some visuals and lock the FPS down a bit lower. It's nice to have options.

That feeling you get when you score at the last second, or catch your first ball as the goalkeeper. Phew, I missed that feeling after burning out on Rocket League some time ago (around the time it left Steam). I have a feeling this is firmly going to be my next main game. I mean that too and I'm not fluffing anything up here, this was a personal purchase as the developer and publisher did not reply to any of my emails before release.

I had a real laugh in it earlier today, where a player was just doing little tricks and dribbling the ball stupidly in front of their goal. I ran up, only needed a gentle tap to grab the ball and — score 1 for me. Perhaps showing off in front of your goal is not the best idea. And then it wasn't long after where I missed a shot, but an opposing player was sliding in and accidentally pushed it into the goal for me on the rebound off the wall. Love it.

I'm looking forward to seeing REMATCH continue to grow. It does a lot right so I'm hopeful they keep up this early momentum they've built.

Really happy to see a new competitive game coming out working on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck right out of the gate like this. Too many games have their anti-cheat blocking Linux but not here. Especially great since this is clearly going to be popular, with it shooting up the charts on Steam.