Rikogol’s Matchday Update brings goal celebrations, a real half-time and smarter bots
Version 1.4 of the online physics football game is out now in Early Access on Steam for Windows and macOS.
TURKEY, September 30, 2026 — Independent developer Deniz Durusoy has released the Matchday Update, version 1.4 of Rikogol, the arcade football game with real physics that friends play together online. The update gives every match the rhythm of a real match day, online and in Training alike.
Goals now get their own moment. After a goal, the match pauses for a 2.5-second celebration: the clock stops, no goal can count, and players are free to run toward the stands and celebrate with their team while the GOAL! banner stays up. The team that conceded then kicks off, and even the goal that decides a match gets its full celebration before the final whistle.
Matches with a time limit now stop at the half for a five-second half-time break. A whistle blows, the “Half time / Teams switch ends” banner goes up, and the teams then swap ends, with the side that did not kick off the match starting the second half. When a Head Coach is running a team, the formation moves with it to the new end.
Bots also play smarter in crowded games, all the way up to 11v11. They no longer shove each other: they give way to teammates, mark opponents from a distance instead of leaning on them and keep out of their own keeper’s space. During both pauses they stop playing and walk back to their places.
Version 1.4 also fixes two rare cases where the ball could get stuck by the touchline, and tidies up letter spacing and menu key hints in all seven languages. Everyone in a match needs the same version, and Steam updates the game automatically.
About Rikogol
Rikogol is arcade football with real physics, played online with friends. Matches range from 1v1 duels to 11v11 derbies with up to 24 people, including a Head Coach on each side who runs the team from the touchline. Friends join through Steam invites, matches run over Steam Relay with no port forwarding, and bots at three levels are ready when nobody else is. Rikogol launched in Early Access on Steam on September 14, 2026, for Windows and macOS, in seven languages and with 65 Steam Achievements.
