The publishers of the popular Football Manager game have announced the cancellation of the 2025 version, shifting their focus to the 2026 iteration.
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The story
SEGA and Sports Interactive have confirmed the cancellation of the 2025 edition of the widely popular game, Football Manager, just weeks before it's rescheduled launch in March.
Initially scheduled for release in early November, the game's launch was delayed to later in the month due to a "challenging" development cycle.
A further delay was announced in October, with but the company has now decided to cancel this year's release entirely.
FM25 was set to be the first installment to feature the new Unity game engine, alongside the addition of women's football to the game for the first time.
In a lengthy statement, publishers Sports Interactive confirmed pre-orders will be refunded and apologised to fans for taking long to communicate the decision, noting they had to fulfil regulatory obligations.
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"Sports Interactive regret to inform 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," reads a statement shared on FM's website.
"For the large numbers of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support – we're very sorry to have let you down.
"We know this will come as a huge disappointment, especially given that the release date has already moved twice, and you have been eagerly anticipating the first gameplay reveal.
"We can only apologise for the time it has taken to communicate this decision. Due to stakeholder compliance, including legal and financial regulations, today was the earliest date that we could issue this statement.
"We have always prided ourselves on delivering the best value for money games that bring you countless hours of enjoyment, that feel worth every moment and every penny you spend.
"With the launch of FM25 we set out to create the biggest technical and visual advancement in the series for a generation, laying the building blocks for a new era.
"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," reads a bulk of FM's statement.
The statement also touches on the release day delays:
"Each decision to delay the release was made with the aim of getting the game closer to the desired level but, as we approached critical milestones at the turn of the year, it became unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required, even with the adjusted timeline."
