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Sports Interactive explained via a lengthy statement why FM 25 will not go live this year as expected.
Sports Interactive has announced that the release of Football Manager 2025, one of the most anticipated football simulation games, will be delayed until March 2025.
Originally scheduled for release on November 26, 2024, the game will not hit the shelves until next year due to development challenges.
In an official statement relased on Thursday, October 10, Sports Interactive explained the reasons for the delay.
“After careful consideration, Sports Interactive have made the tough decision to further delay the release of Football Manager 25,” the developers said.
“Following discussions with SEGA, our licensors and partners, we have agreed the best course of action is to delay the launch until March 2025. Specific platform release dates will follow once confirmed.”
The developers highlighted that despite their team's hard work, they realized that the game would not meet the high standards they aim for.
“In our last Development Update in September, we explained that we needed to push FM25’s original release back to give ourselves more time to deliver the best possible experience for this first installment in a new era of Football Manager. This additional time has not been sufficient to ensure the game quality and experience meets your expectations and our very high standards.”
The announcement further detailed the challenges faced by the developers, leading to this delay.
“Timelines were already tight and, as rightly pointed out by many of your recent comments, we were simply rushing too much and in danger of compromising our usual standards.
“This has put an enormous amount of pressure on everyone working across the studio, who are all passionately committed to delivering the best game possible,” they said.
Fans of the game are understandably disappointed, especially with FM25 marking a significant milestone, including the debut of women’s football and a complete overhaul of the match engine using Unity technology for better graphics and realism.
Beginning from the 2024/25 season, Football Manager confirmed it will also feature all 20 Premier League clubs with official logos, kits, and player likenesses after signing a 4-year licensing deal with English's apex football league.
This integration aims to deliver an unparalleled level of realism, allowing players to immerse themselves fully in the drama and tactics of managing a top-tier football team.
Pre-orders are still valid, and Sports Interactive also announced that refunds are available for those who no longer wish to wait for next year’s release.
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