How do you think FM21 should handle the coronavirus rescheduling?

FM has always followed real life events and scheduling, most notably with Brexit and the Qatar World Cup being moved.

It seems like the whole football calendar is going to get totally messed up for the next 12 months and I'm wondering how FM is going to handle it.

It could be really fun and interesting to play through, especially if leagues take on different formats and sizes for a season or two.

If the game starts in July 2020 as normal you may even find yourself starting a career playing the final few games of the 2020 season.

On the other hand I worry that this would all take so much planning, testing and coding that we risk getting nothing new in FM21 other than the updated schedules. I can only imagine the amount of bugs that would occur from clashing schedules and moving transfer windows.

What do you guys think? Would it be better for SI to just ignore it all together or should they try and replicate real life exactly at is stands in July 2020 when the game starts.

I can only imagine the utter confusion in terms of football scheduling once this all settles down, and how the football authorities will cope, let alone how FM will deal with it.

That said, I don't think it would make sense for SI and FM to ignore all this ever happened. I suspect that would mean that starting some saves in early pre-season (i.e. mid-to-late June) may not be possible though...

I agree that this exceptional situation should be included in FM 2021, unless SI end up skipping that one (but I suppose they won't for financial reasons). Maybe it could be made possible to either start at the tail-end of this current season (if it is decided that 19-20 season will be finished sometime in 2020), or fast forwarded to the beginning of the next whole season, whenever that is.

Also, player, team and competition histories are a big part of the realism and continuation of football history in FM, so I would like to see the forementioned statistics of whatever this season ends up looking like to be included in the game. It should'nt be a big problem, though. Throughout FM history real teams have ceassed to exist and player stats have simply stated Team name (no longer exists) or Team name (now Another team name). Now, competition history for example, will look funny when it states "Year 2019-2020: Competition cancelled/not finished" but that'll be the touch of realism I personally appreciate in FM - that it reflects the real goings on in footballing world. Just like transfer embargos, extended player bans, extended leaves from football for personal reasons, bankrupt teams no more existing etc.

Having said that, I can see all that out-of-the-norm editing and updating in the game database taking SI a lot longer time than it usually does. Especially if final decisions on what the footballing calendar will look like in the fall & winter of 2020 are left late.

It's a proper mess allright. EDIT: As are my ramblings, I suppose. I find it really hard to concentrate with my daughter constantly interrupting my train of thought. She's taken off pre-school, per official advice, and I'm taking a break from my work and teaching her at home now due to corona virus while my wife is working a job that requires extra care on avoiding any potential contamination. These are interesting times we're living.

I think if things got delayed then the game would too, thinking as to how they approach transfer window updates etc. From there I'd imagine they'd put it in there as you said with Brexit and so on.

think we're a long way from finding out though!

as per real life nobody knows at this stage when football will return and in what format

we could see a totally reduced calendar/new transfer window etc etc for 20/21

at this stage I would rather SI focused on the issues with the ME and resolving many bugs with the current game

we could see a delay to the release in the game not a bad thing IMO

posted this yesterday in staff section just in case anyone missed it

Miles Jacobson
@milesSI
Just to let everyone know that we will not be doing an update to #FM20 to reflect this or postponed leagues as we want it to be an escape from Covid-19, not a reminder of it.

now that refers to just FM20 at this stage obviously

They should adapt to the changes made. Or else the game would lose touch and not feel like a new game if, for example, the Euros still went on in 2020 or if leagues start as per usual.

They'll find a way around. But I could imagine the hell of updating the database properly. Wow. FM will not release in November this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they released it in early 2021.