Since you are here, we assume you are an aficionado of all things Football Manager. Many FM players dream of working on the game itself and having a significant impact on the future of this beloved football sim.
Well, this could be your lucky day as we examine how the game is made and how you can get a job at Sports Interactive, the publisher of your favourite football management sim.
Who are Sports Interactive?
Sports Interactive is best known as the publisher of Football Manager. The studio was founded in 1994 by brothers Paul and Oliver Colley. The Collyer Brothers had actually produced the first Championship Manager in 1992, before the official establishment of SI.
The company was bought out by video game giant Sega in 2006. Football Manager 2005 was released in November 2004. It was the first edition to be released after the split from Eidos Interactive in 2003.
30 years of Sports Interactive!
Discover our story – from one game designed in a bedroom to over 11 million players globally.
— Sports Interactive (@SportsInt) July 26, 2024
The company also produced such games as NHL Eastside Hockey Manager and Out of the Park Baseball Manager. Unfortunately for SI, the games were not well-received and were short-lived.
The success of the Football Manager is mainly down to the hard work of studio director Miles Jacobson OBE and his team. Jacobson has received widespread praise for his contribution to the FM series.
What skills do you need to work on a Football Manager game?
Getting a job at a prestigious video game studio like SI is never going to be easy. Much like in Football Manager, many different attributes and skills are needed to produce a fully functioning team.
The first thing that could prove crucial in working for SI on a Football Manager game would be to do your research on the company. What do they expect of their employees, and what are their main values? Maybe also research what current and former employees say about SI as a company.
Some technical skills will also be essential, for instance, if you are looking for a programming role, then programming languages like C++, C#, or Python will be crucial.
If you want to be part of the game development team, then experience designing with and using Unity and Unreal Engine would be appropriate for the role.
For a design role, graphic design skills and experience with software such as Adobe Creative Suite will be needed. Skills in UI/UX design will also be necessary.
A vital skill when working on Football Manager is the ability to work closely with data, as the game is data-heavy by nature. Some heathens have even described Football Manager as a glorified spreadsheet (how very dare you, what do you know!)
These last two credentials may well seem obvious, but I am going to state them anyway for the sake of clarity. The first one is that you have to be passionate about football. Being a football anorak would help, we suspect.
The second is that you are highly experienced at playing the game and passionate about the world’s greatest football manager simulation.
Some players may even have knowledge of certain aspects of the game, such as tactics or skin design. All this knowledge would no doubt help your cause when looking at getting a job at SI and working on FM.
Where can I find jobs at SI?
The best place to find jobs is on SI’s career page on its website. The page usually has numerous job listings, and at the time of writing, there are four vacancies in the marketing, development, speculative and animation departments.
However, we have seen SI jobs advertised on LinkedIn and Glassdoor, the latter of which actually has some testimonials from former and present employees.
A simple search engine search of ‘Jobs at Sports Interactive’ will also give you numerous job listings with SI. Sometimes, the simple methods are the best.
Do you want to work for SI?
Many FM players may dream of working for SI on their favourite game. However, making and playing the game are two very different things indeed.
If you are just starting out in your career or this is your first job in one of the roles needed at SI, then you have to ask yourself, do I really want to work for SI? Are we going to be a good fit?
If you meet all the criteria and want to work for SI, then working on Football Manager could be your dream job, and it could work out for everybody involved.
