Like many FM players, we have been wondering what was happening with FM25. Last Thursday, I even published an article about what was going on with the game release.
In the early hours of Friday, February 7th, after what seems to have been an eternity of silence from the game developers’ SI, it was confirmed that FM25 had been cancelled. Therefore, the delayed March release of the game will now not take place. They are working on the next instalment, presumably FM26.
You know #FM25 being cancelled is big when the news reports it https://t.co/R4aWhYmuBm
— David Fleming 💙 (@Greyingbeard79) February 7, 2025
The fact that the developers had not talked about the cancellation before was down to the fact that they have other partners in the game, i.e. Sega, who, because of their obligation to shareholders, had to agree to release information on one of their biggest selling games in recent years.
A March release date was never realistic
As SI stated in their update in September, they were struggling to put out a game that was worthy of the Football Manager name and that the release had been pushed back until March. This was because of a number of issues, the main one being that the game was using a new game engine called Unity.
I have to say, I don’t really think I ever believed that FM25 would come out in March. It seemed like a strange time to release a game based on the 2024/25 season, with just a few months left of said season. It just didn’t make sense.
It almost felt like SI were attempting to buy time, as they knew that the game wasn’t anywhere near finished. SI’s recent announcement over the game’s cancellation proves that a March release wasn’t really realistic.
An incredibly difficult task for SI
There have been lots of complaints from the FM community about the initial delay and then the cancellation. However, I believe that SI has some credit in the bank for the effort they put into every game release.
The team tries to improve the game with every release, unlike some developers—EA, I am looking at you. Obviously, the improvements for FM25 were unprecedented since the game was first released.
SI was attempting to overhaul the whole game in an effort to make it better for all of us. Unfortunately, everybody underestimated the sheer scope of change that was required to finish the game.
As somebody who loves FM and also writes about the game for work, I find it slightly disappointing that we won’t have FM25.
However, when SI announced in September about the delay until March, I think that’s when they maybe should have just stated that the game wouldn’t happen, and instead, they would be putting their efforts into FM26 to ensure that it is ready.
Maybe SI should have just released a data update for season 2024/25, which I know is more work, while they worked on the latest edition of the game. Players would have still been slightly disappointed, but at least the fans would have known.
As it is, we are not getting an updated database. However, that’s not an issue when you have so many great people who give up their time for free to produce updated databases. Database updates are readily available through the Steam workshop or the many FM community sites.
When will FM26 be released?
Unfortunately, SI has not yet announced when FM26 is likely to be released. That is because they probably don’t really have a clear idea of when it will be released yet.
Like many FM players, the ideal release date for me would be just after the European transfer window shuts in September. However, that could clash with the release of some other big titles, which are traditionally released around that time of the year.
It may be the case that FM26 is released at the end of October or early November, as it is traditionally.
The whole thing has been a bit of a mess for SI. Maybe they are a victim of their our ambitions. I hope that when FM26 gets released, it will be worth the wait. Unfortunately, for some, the shine has been taken off it by the fact that we have had to wait so long for the next instalment of our favourite managerial sim.
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