Hi Readers,
If you’ve clicked on this before reading the main Sports Interactive blog, from Studio Director Miles Jacobson, what on earth is wrong with you? You may have already watched some of the YouTube reaction videos too, again what’s wrong with you?!? But seriously, if you’ve made it on to my blog to read my thoughts about FM24 and beyond…you’ll already be accustomed to my general admiration and optimism around the Football Manager series. This post is not Miles’ blog verbatim, nor is it hyperbole around the death of FM, it’s rather my thoughts on the series going forward. You see, I was fortunate enough to have attended the Sports Interactive offices last weekend. Albeit a bit later than others due to some personal stuff going on, but I was able to see [once again] the care & enthusiasm this game receives from the people who are responsible for making it. It was a great weekend, here’s a pic to prove it…
Dan Gear 86, myself and a fan.
FM23 - New Records
FIVE million FMers in FM23? That’s pretty good going, Blogging only captivates a small % of that player base…and it puts into context that our readers and the Super Fans (like those at SI on the day) make up a very niche profile within the overall pool of FM players out there. Moreover, it’s great to see the game grow year-on-year. For all of the criticism aimed at SI, they surely must be doing something right to grab the attention across a multitude of platforms with FM23 like they have done?
FM24 - 20th Tribute Edition + The Never Ending Story
My first thought reading Miles’ blog is about whether we’re going to get some amazing cover art? Perhaps the Manager Man comes back? Ripped shirt, weathered face, tie around his head…a mirror image of me depicting my own labour of love since Football Manager 2005.
“It’s a love letter to football and the FM series as we know it. It’s the closing of this chapter of our history” Miles aka The 🐐 of Studio Blogs
Miles mentions that some features never made it in FM23, and they’d likely be dropped into this tribute edition which may suit the long-term player. Hell yeah, more of that please 🙏. Whilst FM23 had a nice Recruitment Focus new feature, the game felt a lot like the previous game before it (rinse repeat since FM19?). This is where it gets a bit humorous too, because the game might just feel like the same game again if you port over your current FM23 save into FM24! Still, it’s a feature that’s long overdue and it is desperately needed (imo) with the overall GamePass/Games As a Service methodology…which Miles hints at.
Will we now be writing the never ending story, within a save world that only concludes once you decide it does? Quite possibly.
FM25 - Unite behind Unity + Women’s Football
Friday 14 November 2008 seems like a long time ago…yet I can still vividly remember coming home from a field trip on my University course to play Football Manager 2009 [featuring the new 3D match engine] all weekend. As my train pulled into Exeter, St.David’s Station, I even remember the song I was [over]playing at the time (Ray J’s ‘Anytime’ for reference, it’s a banger 🎵). I reckon Football Manager 2025 is going to provide me similar levels of feels. The new-look engine is long overdue and Miles does well to introduce it in his brief blog post. Pencil Q2 of 2024 in your diaries, because that’s when we’re going to get some juicy visuals/footage of the engine and that sweet new-look User Interface (UI). I suspect the animations and stadiums are going to be light years ahead of what we’re used to, and the UI is definitely 10 years overdue. There is no point asking Miles, or anybody else at SI, for anything related to screenshots/videos though until FM24 is out on sale. You have been warned.
Another thing that has been documented previously in a studio blog post is the introduction of Women’s Football. It is now confirmed to arrive for Football Manager 2025. Again, it makes total sense to deploy Women’s football in the new engine…and not on the final few editions of the legacy one. As a football coach within the real-life female pathway…I’m keeping a close eye on how it translates into the world of FM. I think a lot of existing players may overlook it as a feature, but the work that would have likely gone in in terms of research + match engine (let alone the legal bits that Miles mentions) must be astronomical. I hope it’s a success and one day takes us to TEN million FMers and beyond.
Thank you for reading, are you as excited as I am?
Tony / FM Grasshopper