I’m already annoyed at it. imagine dropping the “20” from the game name – it’s messed up my Steam library!
I’ve been playing this iteration of the game since FM2005, and before that when it was Championship Manager on the Amiga. It’s safe to say I’m very, very annoyed!
I’ve been lucky over the years—as can be seen in my library—to have beta-tested, had press and review copies, and been part of the scene for a long time. I even went to the SI studios when they were on Old Street, before the move to HereEast, to meet Miles and the team. I think I still owe Miles a pint of whatever he drinks nowadays…
One thing I’ve never been though, as some on the scene like to label people as, is a “corporate shill” and I’ve always been honest with my view on Football Manager and Sports Interactive – I hosted a podcast for long enough where we complained about things in the game, and even had Miles on it discussing things we did and didn’t like about the game.
So, Football Manager 26 is out, and there are a lot of people complaining about it. Some are getting refunds, some are playing.
The reviews on Steam are not great, but the number of people reviewing who have played for less than a few hours is huge. This shows one thing: people don’t want to try something for a longer period than the time it takes to make a cup of tea!
This is the biggest change in the game since the moved the menu bar from the top to the side… wait, a UI change?
Yes, this is a simple way of looking at it, but FM2015 was a massive change to the game with the new UI and changes to the match engine. There were a lot of defensive mistakes in the game, and issues with players complaining about lack of football.
FM15 was a building block year, ready for FM16, which took the issues people had seen, built on them, and released a game that was reviewed as ‘dangerously accessible.
FM26 seems to be following this.
This is a game which has launched as a corrective action to what was before and the plans that had been made for FM25 – the cancelled game – and shows off where they want to be with Unity, and how they view the future.
There’s a bit of an inconsistency here: the game is obviously extremely buggy, but I’m not sure it’s a disaster that it’s releasing without another update. The game is very much playable and still functions. It’s not as bad as some launches we’ve seen in other genres – see the latest delay with the new GTA!
My main concern really is what this means in the future. There was a fair assumption that there would be a big update at launch which isn’t the case, so instead of having a batch of fixes ready to go they really are up against it as it seems on face value.
That means they have to spend a huge chunk of time getting the game up to ‘normal’ launch standard. They’ve also committed to releasing the international mode later in the year, which begs the question: at what point do they get to work on FM27? What can they realistically add into it if they’re going to be spending most of what would normally be development time on fixing bugs.
We’ve already seen the patches with over 300+ fixes and changes to the QoL making the game improve in huge increments.
I’m sure that’s fine for most people in fairness (myself included), but I do wonder if FM27 will be the first ‘polished’ and new version of the game.
I love the change to the Unity engine. The modding community are having fun with this, and I will make a post at some point to discuss what they are doing and why it’s important to the future of the game.
I (almost) love the inclusion of the women’s game into FM. They haven’t added the Scottish league yet, but I’d love to have a save with Glasgow City Football Club—they are continually in European football and would be a nice change from looking at the bigger teams like PSG, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc.”
I was bummed about international football not being included, then not bummed, because it’s coming later as a free update. The joy of using Unity is being able to create separate packages that can be inserted as an attachment rather than a hard-coding problem.
Now, I have other issues with those playing the game… or not playing as it seems!
Those on X (or whatever ‘Space Karen’ is calling it this decade) are commenting on things they didn’t know the game did, claiming, ‘I didn’t play it long enough to see it have this functionality’.
THIS!
You are literally complaining about a game you haven’t played and have decided you don’t like it without actually giving it a chance.
You know who you are. I could take screenshots of about 20 people I follow who have said this in a manner of ways, and don’t realise that they are a part of the problem.
“I never had an issue with Championship Manager when I played it in DOS, and FM2009 only had an issue with activation…”
Stop. Just stop with this.
You are some of the people who want a space to shout and scream about how the game is bad but doing it on socials or in the SI forums, just gives the most toxic and judgey vibe going.
There is constructive feedback, and then there is what we are seeing from people: ‘I have to click twice,’ ‘the button isn’t in the same place…’
How do you people cope when you buy a new car? A new phone. Microwave? TV? Move from Sky to Virgin and THEY have a different interface?
I bought FM24—and I still regret this—as it was just FM23.5. It was an in-between-games upgrade, and FM25 was meant to be the next big thing, but it just never came out…
Is FM26 a good game? Yes, it is.
Is FM26 a bit buggy and needing patching? Yes, it is.
Can you play FM, enjoy it and still bitch about it when it won’t let you continue forwards and you need to holiday? YES!
The UI needs work, but I like discovering things in screens we’ve never had before.
Like the contracts screen that shows you the percentage of the wage bill each player takes up, before you realize that you are paying 4 players 30% of the wages..
I want SI to stick to the move they’ve made, I want them to flesh out the UI and fix the issues we have.
I want to be able to select a windowed screen in the size I want and have the dynamic layout back.
Am I going to go on the SI forums or social media and berate and abuse the SI team or the Vloggers/Twitch guys? No.
But I’m a grown up and not acting like a child cos something hasn’t gone my way…
Right, enough of this. I have a Manchester United team to fix, and to work out tactics that actually work.
