A new engine with ‘deeper immersion’ is promised for fans of the Football Manager game series. A new trailer for the game dropped this week, showing startling new graphics
Football Manager fans have been given an exciting glimpse into the game’s new content after a long wait for the latest edition of the game.
Weeks after a trailer for the hotly anticipated game dropped, FM fans have been shown the impressive new gameplay that will be viewed by budding managers looking to take their favourite teams to the heights of football.
The Unity game engine, the switch to which was part of the reason Sports Interactive decided to scrap releasing the game last year, is front and centre of the new preview. FM says the new in-match experience promises “deeper immersion”, a “richer atmosphere” and “fluid football”.
The actual game footage on display in the clip shows a far more complete stadium picture than previous games, although some FM purists who continue to use the 2D top-down view of a moving tactical board may instincitively turn up their noses.
But the latest edition is sure to be one of the most hotly anticipated after it developer Sports Interactive, owned by the Japanese video game giant SEGA, announced in February that the 2025 edition of the game was to be scrapped.
The company had delayed the release of the game twice, but said it was “unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required”. Sports Interactive had previously announced that FM25 would include a major overhaul and update of the game’s interface and gameplay, as well as adding substantial new features – such as the inclusion of women’s football for the first time.
The delays frustrated fans, with some arguing that the communication from Sports Interactive was not good enough.
Now, the 2026 version is set to drop at some point in the next few months.
Sports Interactive director Miles Jacobson told the BBC last month that releasing FM25 was “embarassing”, but would have “damaged us forever”.
“It’s the most expensive decision we’ve ever made,” he said. Licences, of which there are more for FM26, still had to be paid.
He told Eurogamer that the game didn’t work because some features were hard to find.
He said: “It was clunky. Some of the screens were double-loading. The actual game itself was working – graphically, we weren’t where we wanted to be. We didn’t have the big leap that we wanted; it was a very good jump, but it wasn’t a leap.”
Despite the new Unity engine, there will be some features that won’t be introduced into the new game.
“We spoke about how we weren’t going to have an email inbox, it was all going to be WhatsApp based now – that system didn’t work,” Jacobson said,
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