There is always excitement when a new Football Manager is about to be released, no matter whether it looks like it could be a significant step forward or not.
However, with months until FM25 is released worldwide, there is already extra excitement surrounding the release of the game, as it could genuinely prove to be a game-changer, in a literal sense.
Here are two big changes that could well make FM25 a whole different ball game.
Premier League and Football Manager partnership could be massive
A few days ago, it was announced that the Official Premier League licence is coming to the Football Manager for the game’s latest edition. The partnership between the pair will last for four years.
Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive Studio Director delighted with the deal
As most FM’ers know, FM is made by Sports Interactive. The company’s head honcho, Miles Jacobson, is delighted with the partnership.
Jacobson said about the deal: “Since Football Manager’s inception, we have always wanted to work with the Premier League, and we’re delighted to announce that at last we are.
“The partnership isn’t just about the vast in-game benefits it’ll give our fans, but also the opportunities it provides us to help with the incredible things that the Premier League and their clubs do off the pitch. That includes community and charitable work, two things we’re enormously passionate about, as well as the ability to work with some of their existing partners.
“We are very grateful to the Premier League and their other partners in our space for allowing us to be an officially licensed product of the world’s most commercially successful football league.”
The partnership could be massive for the game
The announcement is huge, as the Premier League is one of the most significant football leagues in the world. Since the game came out, fans have had to download competition logos, club badges, and player images from third-party websites for the English top flight.
This is a massive development. As somebody who has played every edition of Football Manager and Championship Manager before the rebranding, one of the first things I do when I buy the latest edition of the game is download all the images to improve on the base game.
This takes time, but depending on where I download the files, my computer could also be at risk of getting viruses. As a player who predominantly plays in the Premier League, this makes the game more complete from the start, for me, at least.
A new match engine in FM25
We have been aware for a while now that FM25 will have a new match engine powered by Unity. Miles even talked about it before FM24, and SI has talked about the pair working alongside each other for a good while.
Unity is renowned in the game industry for powering games like Genshin Impact and the City Skylines series. Essentially, they have been tasked with improving the graphic aesthetic of the whole game, mainly the match day experience.
Many FM players are not concerned by graphics, as they are more focused on the game’s smooth running and playability. Some players are also worried about whether their computers or laptops will be capable of handling the improvements.
Football Manager has always been a brains-over-beautiful-time affair, no matter what platform the game is played on.
However, some truly stunning games have been produced in the last few years— some games that can be regarded as works of art. FM was never able to compete when it came to graphics.
In truth, it is unlikely to be up there with Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or even Red Dead Redemption 2 when it comes to graphics. However, by all accounts, it is likely to make a massive leap forward in its visual appeal.
I must admit I sit in the camp of looking forward to new graphical developments, even if they only improve slightly. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a hater of 2D or the FM graphics of the past.
However, I am all for any changes that can improve the game and propel it forward. Combining FM’s incredibly addictive gameplay with a more attractive user interface could well open the game up to gamers who have shunned the series in the past.
As a community, we can only benefit from more gamers playing FM and experiencing the game that we hold so close to our hearts. More players mean that the game developers will be pushed to keep improving the game year after year, which should only lead to an overall improvement.
It could be the best Football Manager yet
There have not been many significant changes to Football Manager in a long time. However, tweaks here and there in recent years have added to the game’s realism.
If implemented correctly the two changes we discussed in this article could well contribute to FM25 being the best Football Manager game in its two-decade history.
Could the two significant changes help make FM25 the best edition of the series so far?
