Football Manager 25 has been cancelled, but Sports Interactive deserve considerable praise for their approach.
The latest entry in the long-running coaching simulation series was set to release in March after considerable delays, but the developer will instead now focus on the next title, Football Manager 26.
Refunds are available for anyone who preordered it, but it is a shame. The game had promised to introduce the women’s game to the series, something that would have had a quietly big impact.
The delays it had already faced were very notable: the last three games in the series have been released around the first week of November.
The cynical might say that they’re looking forward to the inevitable deep-dive YouTube video on the game’s development, yet that would be harsh. Sports Interactive and publisher Sega have made the morally correct decision here. Sarcasm would tarnish an action which sets a healthy standard for the wider gaming industry.
Was March even a good time…?
Financially, this decision probably doesn’t make sense as this is a very established franchise; morally, it is completely logical.
March isn’t a window that any football games development company wants to target. If this wasn’t an established series then it would have been cancelled back in November. Football games rely on timing in a way that few other games can match and the season is over halfway through now. EA Sports FC’s releases are timed to be at the end of September to account for the end of the transfer windows and for when the season is still new but has got some traction.
March is far too late: some cup competitions are over by this point and the vast majority of storylines will have narrowed down the range of possible endings. A lot of football fans will be seeing their clubs engaged in depressing relegation fights or slamming their heads against the brick wall of a mid-table finish while having been knocked out of the cups. A lot of fans will have a diminishing interest in the season by March, so a new football game to allow them another way to engage in the sport makes no sense.
How have Sports Interactive responded?
Sports Interactive’s statement clarifies that due to legal and financial regulations, this was the earliest they could announce the cancellation.
Also, think of how many games over the years have been released in a poor state, yet inevitably made money due to the loyalty of its fans. They decided the product wasn’t worthy of representing them, so they scrapped it. It’s a commendable approach.
Just take this excerpt from the statement: “As extensive evaluation has demonstrated, including consumer playtesting, we have clear validation for the new direction of the game and are getting close – however, we’re too far away from the standards you deserve. We could have pressed on, released FM25 in its current state, and fixed things down the line – but that’s not the right thing to do.”
Those aren’t the words of a greedy developer; that’s the statement of a company that’s made a mistake and is willing to own up to it. Gaming should look upon this kindly.
The quirks of football games
Football games are in a strange spot: the yearly release cycle means a tight development schedule, but the changes that happen after each season are worth another game. I realise that those without a great knowledge of football won’t appreciate that; indeed, that last sentence will be slated online. The knowledge and accuracy of these games as a whole are outstanding: take video game scouting networks for example, which are amazingly precise. They get their evaluations more correct than you’d expect.
How do you prove that? Go back and play an older title with modern-day knowledge of who becomes a great player; you’ll feel like Biff Tannen.
I get why non-football fans approach it with scepticism, but compare it to other series. EA Sports FC 25 addressed more issues with the core gameplay than Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6. Yearly release cycles can be hard to justify, but I see more default justifications for football needing an entire game’s worth of work year on year than any other franchise. I’d suggest other developers are far more greedy with the churn of games than sports developers.
However, this change year on year does mean an awful lot of work in a short space of time, though, and Sports Interactive hasn’t managed it.
It’s with a slight irony that I write this praise of them for not going ahead with the release, while being perpetually reminded of a title with the complete opposite approach: Sonic 06. Both games are published by Sega.
Fans might be frustrated at the lack of a release, but it’d be a lot worse to see a great gaming company repeat their mistakes. Put the sarcasm to one side: Sports Interactive deserve commendation.
