Football Manager fans received disappointing news as the game’s latest edition has been canceled. Sports Interactive announced that Football Manager 2025 will not be released, as they have shifted their focus to developing the 2026 edition.

Following their discussions with SEGA, it was decided that the existing product was “too far away from the standards you deserve” and there would be no release this time.

Football Manager has been produced every year since 2005. The 2024 edition was considered as the most popular of all with around seven million users at one point.

Football manager: Focus on 2026 Editon

“Sports Interactive regrets to inform you that, following extensive internal discussion and careful consideration with SEGA, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Football Manager 25 and shift our focus to the next release.”

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They added, “For the large number of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support – we’re very sorry to have let you down.”

“Due to a variety of challenges that we’ve been open about to date, and many more unforeseen, we currently haven’t achieved what we set out to do in enough areas of the game, despite the phenomenal efforts of our team.”

“Thank you for reading, your patience, and your continued support. Our full focus now returns to creating a new era of Football Manager.”

All the users who wish to claim a refund on their pre-order of the game will be allowed to do so.

Sports Interactive’s statement in October

The game was already delayed twice before the decision was made. Initially, this game was supposed to be launched in November 2024. In October, it was declared that the game launch had been postponed to March 2025. Sports Interactive said, “Following the discussions with SEGA, our licensors, and partners, we have agreed that the best course of action is to delay the launch until March 2025. Specific platform release dates will follow once confirmed.” They added, “In our last Development Update in September, we explained that we needed to push FM25’s original release date back to give ourselves more time to deliver the best possible experience for this first installment in a new era of Football Manager. The additional time has not been sufficient to ensure game quality and experience meet your expectations and our very high standards.” 

Football Manager has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. Usually, the game is released around October or November. A lot of football fans have opted to play Football Manager instead of games like FC25 and other editions of the game.

This time the game was set to be powered by Unity game engine. The developers were aiming to introduce women’s football. Premier League was set to be the officially licensed partner. Now, all fans will be eagerly waiting for the 2026 edition. There is a lot of possibility of some changes along with the introduction of a few contests. The release of the 2026 edition can be expected at the end of this year.