Football Manager Series

This makes me panic a little bit... If you still do not have FM24, don't forget to add it to EPIC store this week.

https://www.footballmanager.com/news/development-update-football-manager-25-0

International management will not be a playable mode in FM25, FM25 Console or FM25 Touch.
International management will return in a much more feature-rich way to FM26, FM26 Console and FM26 Touch

FM25 player profiles: a player’s weight will no longer be visible. Through the creation of our Women's Football database, we discovered that while the weight of male athletes can change a bit month to month, women’s body types are very different from men’s and their weight fluctuates a lot more, often weekly.
 
Yeah this does set the expectations for a bumpy launch, it was the same when they moved to the current engine, however, unlike other developers I have full confidence in SI ironing out any issues via patches and I believe Miles when he says this is a long term project so future iterations will get better and better.
 
I'd been desperately searching for FM25 news/leaks over the past few days, I've really got the itch at the moment. Desperate to see the new match engine in action.

I was excited when I read there'd been an announcement... Damn.

I've been worried for a while - not because it's a new engine (which is obviously a worry), but because their rebrand of the studio (Sports Interactive) and the communications they've been putting out there absolutely stink of a highly-paid consultancy takeover-and-destroy (which I see all the time in my day-job).

There's been a lot of stuff on social media about their studio makeover that's made me go "oh Christ no, they've never done 'corporate bullshit' before and suddenly there's a rebrand, a new logo that's just the old one, a Sports Interactive website with an 'about our brand' section (who the fuck cares, you're not a fashion house, it's so cringeworthy) and buzz-phrases like 'we're true to the game' (expensive, meaningless drivel), along with an Instagram page full of photos of the team giving speeches, winning awards and other stock-photo-like imagery of everyone having fun at work"...

Whenever a company does this, it's so transparent / desperate, and it absolutely stinks of a well-paid consultancy or an agency coming in and charging hundreds of thousands of pounds to deliver absolutely nothing of worth to the consumer at the end of it all (in-fact having the opposite effect, often tying the hands of those who previously had freedom to work but now have to cope with not only a new engine, but new middle-managers who simply put up roadblocks in the road to getting shit done).

I want to say I trust SI, because FM24 is (in my opinion) the best game they've ever made. I adore it.

I also don't really care about the features they've announced that they're cutting, to be honest.

But when they're admitting themselves that they underestimated the job, and they're running out of time to launch the game... It doesn't inspire confidence in the stuff they have included.

Take all of the above into account and I just feel like it might be too much change (and not all of it positive) at once.
 
I'm not enthusiased to buy FM 25 since I'm an avid international football manager type of player; if that's gone, I'll wait a year till the game is released for free via Epic Games.
 
After the initial panic attack, I am trying to be more positive.

I can't entirely agree with your statement that FM24 is the best game they ever made. Or maybe it is but I don't see much difference between FM 20 and FM24. I mean there are some changes and in the end I enjoy the game but nothing major has changed for ages.

And because of that, I feel that it is worth the hassle. I am fully prepared that FM 25 not gonna be perfect, it will take 2-3 years to fine-tune the game and I hope that final product will be much much better that what we have now.
 
Red flags everywhere. Every update is filled with things they are cutting, delays and a touch of guilt thrown in about them missing holidays.
 
Martan said:
FM25 player profiles: a player’s weight will no longer be visible. Through the creation of our Women's Football database, we discovered that while the weight of male athletes can change a bit month to month, women’s body types are very different from men’s and their weight fluctuates a lot more, often weekly.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but.. what kind of lazy, nonsensical excuse is this? Body weight fluctuates for all, regardless of gender. You could still have a fixed weight and call it a day. To just obscure it sounds so stupid.. if they were afraid of offending someone, Fifa is way more popular than FM and does have women's weight since they introduced them, as far as I remember it never raised controversy or fueled online bullying. Go figure.

(also posting so I'll remember to add 24 tomorrow)
 
International Management I can live without - Bur where did they get the data "Only 5.6% of all FM24 PC saves have used the mode"
Everyone who I know plays the game always becomes an International Manager and enjoys the experience.

Be interesting what the game actually plays and feels like - But changing to Unity so it is easier to program for the consoles is starting to look a mistake.
As would like to know how many sales there are on console compared to PC.
 
Chris Davies said:
I'd been desperately searching for FM25 news/leaks over the past few days, I've really got the itch at the moment. Desperate to see the new match engine in action.

I was excited when I read there'd been an announcement... Damn.

I've been worried for a while - not because it's a new engine (which is obviously a worry), but because their rebrand of the studio (Sports Interactive) and the communications they've been putting out there absolutely stink of a highly-paid consultancy takeover-and-destroy (which I see all the time in my day-job).

There's been a lot of stuff on social media about their studio makeover that's made me go "oh Christ no, they've never done 'corporate bullshit' before and suddenly there's a rebrand, a new logo that's just the old one, a Sports Interactive website with an 'about our brand' section (who the fuck cares, you're not a fashion house, it's so cringeworthy) and buzz-phrases like 'we're true to the game' (expensive, meaningless drivel), along with an Instagram page full of photos of the team giving speeches, winning awards and other stock-photo-like imagery of everyone having fun at work"...

Whenever a company does this, it's so transparent / desperate, and it absolutely stinks of a well-paid consultancy or an agency coming in and charging hundreds of thousands of pounds to deliver absolutely nothing of worth to the consumer at the end of it all (in-fact having the opposite effect, often tying the hands of those who previously had freedom to work but now have to cope with not only a new engine, but new middle-managers who simply put up roadblocks in the road to getting shit done).

I want to say I trust SI, because FM24 is (in my opinion) the best game they've ever made. I adore it.

I also don't really care about the features they've announced that they're cutting, to be honest.

But when they're admitting themselves that they underestimated the job, and they're running out of time to launch the game... It doesn't inspire confidence in the stuff they have included.

Take all of the above into account and I just feel like it might be too much change (and not all of it positive) at once.
Click to expand...
I honestly believe Miles and potentially other key individuals are preparing to step down / retire OR they're shaping up the game to add microtransations via a UT-type mode. A few other sports management games have adopted this in recent years and the pessimist inside me thinks FM is next.
 
bsmaff said:
International Management I can live without - Bur where did they get the data "Only 5.6% of all FM24 PC saves have used the mode"
Everyone who I know plays the game always becomes an International Manager and enjoys the experience.

Be interesting what the game actually plays and feels like - But changing to Unity so it is easier to program for the consoles is starting to look a mistake.
As would like to know how many sales there are on console compared to PC.
Click to expand...
Agree, 5.6% seems like a very low number. Idk though where they get the data from. Maybe from steam/gamepass cloud saves? Probably they mean the initial start of the save because I don't think they can track the save file afterwards without enabling full data analytics feedback to the company.
Removing fully international management doesn't make any sense though. What's the big difference to club management? A few code lines for the call up pool of players? What do they mean by full revamp? My imagination is beyond logical standards and I still can't think what extra features you can invent for international management.
Anyway, it doesn't look good so far. New engine means more issues to resolve for the 3D match engine. Unless they really have the magic stick they're going to be huge problems with the 3D match engine.
 
I am still optimistic about FM 25, but I think it's perfectly fine to have concerns about what FM25 will look like on launch day. Nothing wrong with that in today's gaming world.
 
FCDallas_Fan said:
I honestly believe Miles and potentially other key individuals are preparing to step down / retire OR they're shaping up the game to add microtransations via a UT-type mode. A few other sports management games have adopted this in recent years and the pessimist inside me thinks FM is next.
Click to expand...

100% this

They don't care about realism or any principles that their game was founded on anymore

MIxed men and women teams + 20 season limit+ training boosts microtransaction incoming
 
Ameobinho said:
100% this

They don't care about realism or any principles that their game was founded on anymore

MIxed men and women teams + 20 season limit+ training boosts microtransaction incoming
Click to expand...

This isn't EA.
I seriously doubt they will bring in microtransactions and certainly won't have mixed teams.

I think it is best to wait and see what the actual game is like when the BETA is released in November and how many more features have been dropped.

But I think FM24 will enter the legendary status of games like CM 94, CM 96/97, CM 03/04 - Games which are still played massively today.
FM24 will probably have a data update completed for the next few years.
 
Yeah, I doubt they will bring microtransactions like other manager games. They can (and they already did some) add microtransactions (I. e. real time editor) but I don't they they will add FM Ultimate Team.

We can be wrong but this would kill the game.
 
Martan said:
Yeah, I doubt they will bring microtransactions like other manager games. They can (and they already did some) add microtransactions (I. e. real time editor) but I don't they they will add FM Ultimate Team.

We can be wrong but this would kill the game.
Click to expand...

Forgot about the stupid RTE that they charge for every year but that has been in the game for ages.

I personally don't see it happening TBH, SI have never really been about rinsing it's community for money.
EA on the other hand have always tried to make money out of every product they sell - Even BF has loot boxes and the ability to get better guns by paying more money.

As long as FM stays mainly a single player experience then I don't really see them adding micro transactions.
 
If they are not ready for the new engine, why don't they release FM 2025 season update to be ready for the new one for 2026 !
 
H_G said:
If they are not ready for the new engine, why don't they release FM 2025 season update to be ready for the new one for 2026 !
Click to expand...

They have been developing the new one with Unity for a while now probably a couple of years at least.
Development clearly hasn't been as smooth as they hoped and they are having to drop a few features in order to get the game out in time.

They switched to Unity so that it is easier to develop the game for multiple formats as the current engine is mainly a PC based engine and they probably needed to change it at some point in the near future in order to improve the game - They have clearly hit a ceiling in terms of the match engine as it has looked the same for years with no graphical improvements which Unity should now bring.

I will be buying the game Day 1 regardless and if it isn't great then will resort back to FM24 with data updates.

For me I just hope that they keep the game modable and don't all of sudden start turning a fantastic PC game into something that is developed for multi formats and start making decisions based on well if a console can't do that then we can't have it on PC.
PS5 / Series X are massively behind PC in terms of processing power and I really hope the PC doesn't suffer due to console restraints under the new engine.

I am also looking at Firaxis for this - Messing up Civilization and turning it from one of the greatest games of all time to a cartoony/console friendly experience to appeal to the masses.
 
Last edited:
H_G said:
If they are not ready for the new engine, why don't they release FM 2025 season update to be ready for the new one for 2026 !
Click to expand...
Because it was already announced since FM 23.

At this point, I guess the whole community believes that this year will be a transitory one with bugs and weird stuff happening.
 
SI turning the game into an esport is enough for me to start worrying. This is why I think the game is slowly going towards some sort of pay-to-win model for multiplayer (form of UT like game or something different). Tie this to the move to Unity and it all starts coming together, especially with how much easier it will be to streamline the product across PC, consoles, and mobile using the new engine. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

https://www.footballmanager.com/news/development-update-football-manager-25-0
 
I think FM will get the licence for the FIFA world cup 2026.. since they collaborated this year.. and FIFA is no more with EA.. maybe they already got the licence for FIFA Club World Cup 2025.. who knows !
 
FCDallas_Fan said:
SI turning the game into an esport is enough for me to start worrying. This is why I think the game is slowly going towards some sort of pay-to-win model for multiplayer (form of UT like game or something different). Tie this to the move to Unity and it all starts coming together, especially with how much easier it will be to streamline the product across PC, consoles, and mobile using the new engine. I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

https://www.footballmanager.com/news/development-update-football-manager-25-0
Click to expand...
It will be another game falling in the mobile microtransaction gambling scheme. We need a ban for this.
 
Got a really bad feeling about this, lads...

Yeah bring in women's football, get rid of an attribute such as weight ... and let International Management die. Really sounds like a winner :BORED:
 
TanMak said:
Got a really bad feeling about this, lads...

Yeah bring in women's football, get rid of an attribute such as weight ... and let International Management die. Really sounds like a winner :BORED:
Click to expand...
What's the issue with bringing in Women's football? I am actually happy they are bringing it in. It is a new and interesting challenge with the difference in wages and higher focus you need on youth.

Also a general revamp of systems is nothing negative. It makes sense to do a refocus of International Management with a world cup year coming up.
 
Jay-Jay 10 said:
What's the issue with bringing in Women's football? I am actually happy they are bringing it in. It is a new and interesting challenge with the difference in wages and higher focus you need on youth.

Also a general revamp of systems is nothing negative. It makes sense to do a refocus of International Management with a world cup year coming up.
Click to expand...
Because the introduction of women's football has certainly resulted in extra allocation of resources and was time consuming. All this for something that might attract 0.5% of interest unless you believe women will play Football Manager.
I don't mind more features and modes like the above but the devs are a bit contradicting themselves by saying International management had a low amount of players. Do they expect better by introducing women's football? They probably expect a large amount of pro women footballers to buy and play the game? If that's the case are in for a big sad surprise.
I've played every iteration of the game since the 90s. I haven't met any woman accepting even the presence of this game. They all hate it with passion even the ones who like football. I've seen couples and friends have huge arguments, I've seen couples divorcing because of the game. Championship Manager and Football Manager was mentioned by women in legal documents multiple times in my lawyer career.
 
Anecdotal facts are never useful in arguments. I know professional women players who play football manager (both current and former) and also female gamers who play it and now? See not useful at all for an argument. What is useful is looking at the business case and where women's football is now:

Women's football is growing and also part of the football world. You now have the big tournaments have good viewership numbers in main countries, you have higher attendance for important games in women's leagues and Champions league. In Spain and UK the Women's game is now a legit alternative to the men's game for many having affordable prices and being more kids friendly.

So investing in it is a smart move into the future since the women's game is growing and will continue to grow.

Just from a business standpoint alone it is understandable regarding long term goals and even if you put that aside, the size of women's football and attendance and viewership numbers alone make it a valid point to be in the game the same as some of the men's leagues in it.

Add to that viral marketing and PR opportunities (look at how much EAs implementation of Women in Career Mode is mentioned this year all through the media) and it is an easy business case to make.

Also: I started playing Championship Manager 2 even when I didn't fully understand it because I could play my favourite team. Seeing how nowadays gaming is also something girls do who says there won't be girls/women who will become interested in managing their favourite women's team that has their favourite players in.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom