The director of the soccer hitRematchhas recently reflected on the game’s success and developer Sloclap’s growth, stating that while the studio is still expanding, it won’t become as big as an AAA studio. FirstSifuand nowRematch, both games have had a major impact on Sloclap, with the former selling over 4 million copies and the latter 1 million in just a few days.
Rematchtook a completely different approach fromSifuin terms of theme, with Sloclap now taking fans to a soccer field, pitting two teams of players against each other. While there are already some renowned soccer games in the industry,Rematchmoves away from traditional gameplay and offers a much more arcade-style experience, where players control just one character in 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 matches set in small closed arenas without fouls, offsides, or pauses. Surprisingly,Rematchdoes resembleSifu, as the studio implemented similar physicality, which fits perfectly with the kind of fast-paced experience it offers.Rematchhas been a smash hit so far, and now its director has opened up about the studio’s future.
In a recent interview withGamesRadar+,Rematchdirector Pierre Tarno made it clear that he neither wants to develop $50-100 million games, nor have 250 people working on them. DespiteRematch’s tremendous success, Tarno said that “we don’t feel the need to grow further,” because this could potentially undermine the studio’s capacity to take certain creative risks, “and that means limiting the scope of your projects,” he added.
Rematch Developer Intends to Limit Studio Growth and Budget Scope
Theproduction costs of AAA games are often sky-highand can involve teams of up to 5,000 contributors, which necessarily makes the business of making a game much more calculated, preventing studios from taking too many chances—they need to sell or risk bankruptcy. Tarno explained that, while it’s expected that Sloclap will grow a bit more, it won’t reach the heights of projects that cost $50-100 million, because he wants to be sure “we’re able to continue making great games.”
The director also reflected onthe success ofSifu, explaining how this game led the studio to grow from 70 employees to 130. He said that for Sloclap, “staying alive is already an objective and an achievement,” and he is very happy with how things are going. For now, theRematchdeveloper wants to keep making games without being hand-tied by huge budgets and financial concerns that could jeopardize the studio’s creativity and passion.
