Rematch‘s developers posted Mini Dev Update #3 on Steam outlining Patch 3 and a crossplay launch, plus a Steam-only beta scheduled for August 29th, 5 pm to 9 pm CEST. The update is planned for early next week and includes mouse aiming options, gameplay tweaks, and crossplay going live alongside the patch.
The short version for players pressed for time – Patch 3 brings crossplay (live with the patch), new in-game player reporting, and long-awaited mouse-and-keyboard tap-aiming options, including a choice to revert to the old WASD mapping from the pre-launch Beta.
Extra effort volley shots are getting the first gameplay adjustments. The developers say the changes will curb how fast players lock onto volley targets during Extra Effort and reduce the power bonus on high aerial volley shots. More balance updates are expected in future patches as the team watches player feedback from the beta.
A Steam-only Beta test will run on August 29th, from 5 pm to 9 pm CEST. Crossplay will not be enabled during that Beta, but it will go live at the same time as Patch 3 when the update fully releases. A feedback form will be available during the Beta for clips and bug reports.
The developer’s full update appears in the official Steam news post and explains the reasoning behind delaying separate hotfixes in favor of bundling several fixes into Patch 3 – the official Steam news post.
Patch Notes
At long last, Crossplay is also set to release alongside Patch 3, which is currently planned for early next week. Crossplay will come along with new features such as in-game player reporting. Patch 3 will also introduce long awaited updates to M&KB tap aiming, with options allowing players to tweak mouse sensitivity, as well as an option to use the old WASD mapping from the first pre-launch Beta.
Patch 3 will also introduce the first gameplay tweaks, on extra effort volley shots:
- the maximum speed at which players can lock onto volley targets during Extra Effort is now 10% lower. Extra Effort made it a bit too easy to reach certain targets, and this tweak will better challenge players on their positioning. This will also remove certain situations in which players seemed to be moving very fast towards their volley target, which felt both unrealistic and unfair. We will monitor the outcome of this tweak closely, and possibly reduce it even further in our next update.
- Reduction in the power boost coming from aerial extra effort volley shot: performing a volley shot from extra effort will still result in a more powerful shot than regular volley shots, but this power bonus is now reduced for volley above 1m high, essentially nerfing the blade shot a little.
These are the first steps in addressing the current meta, and there will be more to come.
We will be Beta Testing the update today, August 29th, from 5 pm to 9 pm CEST, on Steam only. To be clear, Crossplay will be unavailable during the Beta, but will go live at the same time as Patch 3. A new feedback form will be available for you to fill out where you will be able to share clips of the bugs you encountered during the Beta and provide feedback on the changes we have made.
If all goes well, we will release Patch 3 next week. We were initially planning to release a hotfix this week for issues such as the GK being vulnerable when shooting, but many of these fixes are part of the upcoming Patch 3, and extracting these changes to push them as standalone hotfixes was complicated and risky.
Note on Patches and Stability
While Patches 1 and 2 fixed important issues, they also introduced new bugs, some of which significantly impacted the gameplay. This is not acceptable, especially in a competitive context, and we want to apologize for the new issues created in the two last patches. We believed from our own internal tests that these updates were ready to be released, but it was not the case. Some bugs can be hard to find, which is why we want to run Beta Tests with our most engaged players, who are deeply familiar with the game’s mechanics, and are more likely to identify certain issues than our team of QA testers. However, there are certain bugs that we should have identified earlier and taken the time to fix, even if it meant delaying updates.
Our priority is to fix the most problematic bugs, including (but not limited to) the GK losing invulnerability when shooting, or players spawning on the wrong side of the pitch at kickoff in custom games – both of these will be fixed in Patch 3. With most of the team progressively coming back from their summer break, we are picking up the pace to improve our internal processes (code reviewing, QA testing, feedback collection, bug identification and prioritization…), in order to avoid as much as possible such issues in the future: updates and patches should always be a net improvement to the game.
As hardcore Rematch players ourselves, we are not fully satisfied with the current state of the game, and there are still a number of bugs that need to be fixed, and mechanics to be tweaked, before the game is fit for real competitive play. In our latest Mini Dev Update, we discussed some of the improvements to allow for more skill expression and teamplay, especially at high levels of play. Beyond this, we have tons of things planned for future seasons: iterations on existing mechanics to add depth and fairness to the core gameplay, new competitive features, as well as more variety in casual play, through new game modes (the first of which will be introduced during Season 1), and also improved tutorials, AI bots to train with and against, and more. We don’t have a precise roadmap we can share with you at this time, but we have long term plans for the game, and are very committed to bringing Rematch to its full potential, both for competitive and for casual players.
X and Bluesky have quick updates and patch chatter worth checking for hot takes and fixes.
