Rematch’s beta test on Steam is turning heads with its impressive player numbers. At peak player count, it topped EA FC 25 and Football Manager 24. It’s quite a feat for a new soccer game to try to carve out space in a crowded market!
Launching on June 19 for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, Rematch is currently running a 72-hour final beta test that shows strong engagement. According to SteamDB, the beta reached an all-time peak of almost 160,000 players on Steam, making it the second-highest peak ever for a soccer game on the platform, only Football Manager 2020 surpassed it with 190,000.
The beta wraps up on May 31, giving players a last chance to try the game for free. It also helps developers test server capacity and fix bugs before the launch. What’s surprising is how well it’s doing despite the dominance of giants like EA Sports and Sports Interactive.
Of course, Steam numbers don’t tell the whole story since Xbox and PlayStation players aren’t counted here, and those numbers might be even higher. EA FC 25 is nearing the end of its cycle, and Football Manager 25 was canceled earlier this year, so that Rematch might be catching the wave at just the right moment.
The beta is free-to-play, which probably helped pull in a bigger crowd. But I’m curious, how many players will buy the full game for $29.99? Rematch’s focus on fast-paced 5v5 matches, where each player controls just one character, really sets it apart from the full-team control style of EA FC. Could this smaller-scale approach be the game’s secret weapon?
