Cliff Notes – Don’t like EA Sports FC 26? Another football game is free to play this weekend

Rematch’s Unique Gameplay: Developed by Sloclap, Rematch offers a third-person perspective in 5v5 matches, focusing on individual ball control while eliminating traditional football rules like fouls and offsides.
Free-to-Play Weekend: The game is available for free on Steam until September 29, 2025, coinciding with the launch of EA Sports FC 26, and is currently discounted by 20% across all platforms.
New Content and Features: The first season introduces crossplay functionality, 3v3 ranked matches, and a season pass for cosmetics and new arenas, aiming to attract players from EA Sports FC 26.

Don’t like EA Sports FC 26? Another football game is free to play this weekend

The beautiful game, but different (Sloclap)

One of the best football games of recent years is free to play this weekend, as it goes head-to-head against EA Sports FC 26.

Ever since Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer morphed into the free-to-play eFootball, the realm of football video games has been almost entirely dominated by EA Sports FC.

EA’s football sim, formerly known as FIFA, is consistently one of the biggest selling games of the year, alongside fellow yearly sequel Call Of Duty.

While the latest instalment, EA Sports FC 26, might be one of the better ones in a while, another football sim arrived earlier this year which is trying to eat into its launch weekend lunch.

Developed by Sifu developer Sloclap, Rematch takes a different approach to the usual top-down perspective. In 5v5 matches, you take control of one player on the field from an over-the-shoulder third person view, as you coordinate passes and shots with your teammates.

It’s a more involved football simulator in some respects, with greater emphasis on individual ball control, but it also removes some of the irritations, like fouls, offside rules, and pauses in the action. So you don’t need to worry about repercussions when aiming for the shins.

The game launched across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC earlier this year, but Sloclap is marking the title’s first season of new content with a free-to-play weekend on Steam.

Expert, exclusive gaming analysis

Rematch is free to play on Steam until Monday, September 29, 2025 at 6pm BST. If you’re interested in buying the game outright, it is also discounted by 20% across all platforms until then, and is currently available for £15.99 on the PlayStation Store.

As for what’s included in the first season, it comes with highly requested crossplay functionality, 3v3 ranked, along with a season pass for cosmetics and new arenas.

While EA Sports FC 26 has been available in early access since last week, the game launched worldwide to everyone today (September 26), so the timing of this Rematch deal isn’t a coincidence.

If Rematch is hoping to entice anyone who drops off EA Sports FC 26 this weekend, they might have competition from other games out this week – with Silent Hill f and Hades 2 also threatening to divert your attention.

EA Sports FC 26 is in the wild (EA)

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