We're getting footballerz ready for open beta. Until now the patch notes covered one update at a time. This post replaces them with a single overview: what the game is today and what comes next.

What footballerz is

An online 2D football game you play in the browser, viewed from above. You control one player, matches are 5v5 outfield with CPU keepers, and what decides a game is skill and reflexes, never time played or money. Two players stepping onto the pitch always have identical mechanical tools, and that won't change. You don't need an account to try it: open the site and jump in as a guest.

A complete match

The laws of the game are in, and the referee judges what actually happened:

Fouls, free kicks and penalties. A slide that takes a player down without touching the ball is a foul. Commit one in your own box and it's a penalty.
Bookings and the sin bin. Keep fouling and you get a yellow. The next foul sends you off for ten match minutes, and your side plays a player down.
Offside, the real Law 11, in every counted match. A small indicator tells you when you're standing offside.
Proper restarts. Kickoffs, corners, throw-ins taken with the hands, goal kicks with the box cleared, and set pieces you can take or leave to someone else. Added time waits for a live attack to finish, and keepers know the back-pass rule.
The stadium. A pixel crowd in your colours, a tunnel walk-out, match sounds from first whistle to last, and grass that keeps the marks of every slide.

It all comes down to your touch

Sliding in is a choice. Whatever your leg meets first decides it: get the ball first and it's yours, hit the player first and the ball just squirts loose. Your leg stretches out as you commit, a second press pulls out of the tackle, and a clean win recovers faster than a miss.
Time your first touch. Run onto an incoming ball and steer it with either button. You can volley a dropping ball, but a rising one will still bounce off you.
Shooting. Hold longer for more power, aim further away for more height. The ball follows the same physics on every screen.

Online play feels like playing locally. The server decides what happens, your own player reacts the instant you press, and everyone sees the same match.

Matches that count

Team matches. One team challenges another, five players a side, and the result goes on both records: a ladder, a match page, a history.
Solo ranked. Ten players, no bots, and the sides are picked by rating at kickoff. Your rating moves based on who you played against, and quitting early costs you.
Friendlies when you want a game with nothing at stake, trainings for everything else, and the Kickabouts: public pitches that are always open, one for newer players and one for the full game.
Every counted match is recorded. Line-ups, scorers, full stats, shot maps, speeds in km/h, and a summary of how you played.

Your profile

Sign in with Discord or Google. There are no passwords. You get a public profile and a level that grows with time spent playing with other people (bot matches give nothing). Unlocks go up to level 25, and after that your level just shows how long you've played. There are friends, private messages, a global chat, an inbox that only shows things waiting for your reply, and teams with roles, transfers and a history.

Your team's look

Your own crest, built from a set of symbols, layered shapes and lettering around the edge, drawn by the game itself.
Kits for home, away and a third, with patterns, worn on the pitch.
A ground that grows with your team: six levels, from a small terrace to a full covered stand, chosen by the match host.
Matchballs, mowing patterns, crosshair styles, loadouts: cosmetics and convenience, more choice but never more power. Anyone can join a team. Creating one, and a few extras like more loadout slots, are for Supporters. Their money pays for the servers and never buys an advantage.

Watch it again

Every room keeps the last minute of play. Press C to save the last fifteen seconds to your computer, then watch them at /replay, frame by frame if you want. A replay isn't a video file. It's the match itself, replayed through the same physics.

Learning the game

/how-to-play shows every mechanic with short clips. Each clip is a scripted moment played through the real game engine, so the guide always matches the game. When the physics change, the clips change too.

Behind the scenes

Before opening the doors we had to build the parts nobody takes screenshots of: moderation with a proper audit log, a report queue, a bug reporter at /hub/support, rate limits on everything, data export and full account deletion, and a clear message when you disconnect, with a way back into the match. It's what makes it possible to invite people we don't know.

What's next

No dates, just the order:

Open beta. We open up the game and start learning from real players.
Full match replays, kept on the server for a few days, with highlights you can open straight from a match report and clips you can export to video on your own computer.
A solo ranked queue. Right now you have to set up a rated room yourself. Matchmaking should do that for you.
Proper competitions: leagues and seasons with promotion and relegation, plus cups. This is the long-term goal everything else leads to.
International teams, eventually: once there are enough players, countries playing their best against each other.
More to unlock, including seasonal and earn-only items, so they actually mean something.
Servers near you, so matches are hosted in the players' own region and nobody has to play across an ocean.

Play right away as a guest at footballerz.online. See you on the pitch.

Where the game is, and the road to open beta