Things FM26 Has To Do After FM25’s Cancellation

The Football Manager franchise began in 2005 when the team of developers from the popular Championship Manager franchise split from their publishers at Eidos Interactive. What followed this creation is one of the longest-running and most successful sports management simulators of all time, with the latest entry in the series, Football Manager 2024, having a record player count of over 14 million players. The series’ yearly entries have gradually improved the match engine over time, initially beginning with just match commentary before upgrading to 2D visuals, eventually adding a 3D match engine in Football Manager 2009.

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Football Manager 25 was supposed to bring about the biggest change in nearly two decades with an upgrade to the Unity Engine, bringing an overhauled match engine and UI. However, to the dismay of many fans, the game was delayed twice before its eventual cancellation. With many fans concerned about the future of the franchise, Football Manager 26 has to get a lot of things right, but what are some things the game has to do after Football Manager 25‘s cancellation?

1

Make Sure The Match Engine Is Playable

The New Match Engine Is A Key Selling Point That Can’t Release Broken

The switch to the Unity Engine has caused problems for the development team at Sports Interactive. Redesigning a whole game in a short space of time to work on a whole new engine is a task that was a stretch too far for Football Manager 25.

Many fans of the franchise are undoubtedly nervous about the prospect of entering the new engine, with the expectation being it’ll take a few years to get it right. This is something that Sports Interactive needs to get right. If the match engine is released in a broken state, it could be the final nail in the coffin after the cancellation of Football Manager 25. The bright side for the developers is that the fans know it won’t be perfect on the first try, but with a two-year development cycle now in place, expectations have increased.

2

International Management

Initially Slated To Be Removed From FM25

When the switch to the Unity Engine was announced, many features were cut to meet the initial deadline, including the Create-A-Club and Draft modes. The most controversial change for many fans was the removal of international management.

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With an extra eight months to get things right for Football Manager 26, the possibility of international management being added back into the game is an option. If Sports Interactive could add international management to the game, this would go a long way with fans, showing that they have listened to the community and have used their extra development time wisely. However, given no one knows the current state of the game is operating in, it wouldn’t be surprising if this feature remained on the cutting room floor for Football Manager 26.

When Football Manager 25 was announced, the team behind the game revealed Women’s football would be added to the game, with managers able to take over teams from both Men’s and Women’s football for the first time in the series. With players able to manage both men’s and women’s teams in the same career, one area that will need focus is balancing in the game.

The game has a focus on realism and therefore has to get this addition right, not only to properly represent the modern landscape of Women’s football but to ensure the addition is worthwhile to the game. The development team has already gone on record stating they have done hours of additional motion capture with female players and have re-written the language within the game to make it gender appropriate.

4

Ensure The UI Is User Friendly

When FM25 Was Announced, A New UI Split Opinions

When Football Manager 25 was first revealed, an updated UI was shown off in a few screenshots which split opinion among the fanbase. With the attempt to modernize the game, the new UI looked to streamline the game to make it more accessible and easier to operate.

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With the game showing that it will be changing the existing system for a more focused tile and panel display, some fans began to compare this to previous FM Touch entries. These previous FM Touch versions of the game are a more simplified approach designed to be played on the go, with the removal of some of the depth in the PC versions of Football Manager. The new UI needs to be a huge improvement on previous iterations, otherwise it could turn away some players for good.

5

Release The Game On Time

Sports Interactive Needs To Be Transparent And Release The Game On Time

When the cancellation of Football Manager 25 was announced, some fans were disappointed by the lack of communication from the development team at Sports Interactive before that point. While many players understood the massive task the development team had taken on with this latest entry, it still came as a shock to the community that the game had been canceled, especially after its previous delays.

Within this comes the most important thing Football Manager 26 has to get right: the game needs to be released on time with the development team being transparent and open about the progress being made. The series is in a strange place with this being the first time they haven’t released a yearly entry due to the monumental task of upgrading to the Unity Engine. This makes Football Manager 26 crucial to the success of the franchise moving forward. If they were to miss another deadline, it could spell the end of the much-loved series.

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