For the first time in two decades, Football Manager is hitting pause on its annual release cycle. The anticipated Football Manager 25, which had already seen delays, has now been canceled just before its planned launch in March 2025.
Sports Interactive, the game’s developer, along with publisher Sega, announced this decision with a strategic pivot towards their next project. They concluded that further delays would still not guarantee the quality they aim for, so the tough choice was made to bypass FM25 altogether.
The upcoming release was set to be a landmark entry, touted as the series’ most significant technical and graphical overhaul in years. It promised enhanced animations, a revamped user interface, a completely new match day experience, and, notably, the integration of women’s soccer for the first time. However, the ambitious scope seemed to stretch the developers thin, as they had already taken an unusual step by pushing the release from its typical fall window to March. This shift meant the game would miss out on much of the soccer season, and with no gameplay footage released and a missed development update in January, the signs weren’t promising.
Sports Interactive candidly acknowledged that despite their team’s exceptional efforts, various challenges—both expected and unexpected—prevented them from meeting their goals across many aspects of the game. After every decision to delay was weighed carefully, the hard truth became apparent at the year’s end: reaching the needed standard was out of reach, even with extra time.
Releasing an unfinished product and relying on patches to repair it later was deemed unacceptable by the studio. They also discarded the idea of delaying the game beyond March, as by then, it would be too deep into the season to release a viable update. Instead, the focus has shifted entirely to the next edition, likely targeted for fall 2025.
In taking this step, Sports Interactive is channeling all their resources to ensure their subsequent offering meets high expectations. They did express regret for the delay in communicating the cancellation, citing the complexities tied to legal and financial obligations under Sega’s ownership, a publicly traded entity. Those who pre-ordered can expect full refunds. Updating Football Manager 2024 with the latest data wasn’t considered feasible, as it would derail efforts on the future title.
Since debuting in 2004 with Football Manager 2005, the franchise has consistently released on an annual schedule, always before the end of November. Sports Interactive’s roots in soccer management simulators date back even further to 1992’s Championship Manager, marking a storied legacy in the genre.
