The Football Manager series has been around for decades, with each of its annual installments gradually building on its core systems until it became the mix of deep simulation and trite press conference screens it is today. Football Manager 2025 is different: a up-to-date start to the series, built on a up-to-date engine that, according to Sports Interactive, will not immediately be as prosperous and resilient as its predecessor.
It now has a release date: November 26.
“FM25 is not a continuation of FM24. FM 25 is: “This is the next generation of Football Manager” – and this is the first chapter in the up-to-date Football Manager book that will be developed” – studio head Miles Jacobson he told Eurogamer last month. Jacobson’s comments echo what was announced in 2023, when Football Manager 2024 was described as “the last of its kind.”
The biggest change is under the hood: Sports Interactive has swapped its own proprietary engine for Unity, with the goal of improving the quality of the 3D match engine but also accelerating the development of up-to-date features in a series that has been stagnant at times.
This means that Football Manager 2025 is a reset, a short-term step back that is intended to pave the way for bigger and faster steps in the future. In practice, this means that Football Manager 2025 does not include some features that players might be accustomed to in recent versions. No international management, no data board, no club creation, no Challenge mode, Versus mode or Fantasy Draft.
What Football Manager 2025 page on Steam claims it will have a Premier League license for the first time, women’s football for the first time, more playable leagues and countries than ever, a completely up-to-date user interface and “the biggest technical and visual advances in a generation”.
I’m really fascinated to see how the FM2025 release turns out. In the annual update cycle, it’s inevitable that there will be some massive up-to-date features or improvements that are out of reach because they don’t fit into the schedule. It finally makes it into a series. At times I was frustrated by Football Manager’s sluggish progression and the nature of its up-to-date features, which sometimes seemed to introduce more cruft than real innovation. Resetting may not be a bad thing, but it does come with risks.
Or players can just keep playing FM2024. I’m sure someone will update the database. We’ll find out where things go on November 26.
