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FM25 Revised Release Timeline
We previously stated that we would be confirming FM25’s release date at the beginning of September (with pre-orders starting at the same time), closely followed by our gameplay rollout period.
Firstly, we've had to shift the official announcement of FM25 to the end of September. The gameplay focus period will follow soon thereafter. Our target launch date has moved accordingly and is now scheduled for late November, rather than our usual early November slot.
The FM25 development cycle has been challenging for the whole team. We knew that moving the entire game to the Unity engine was going to be a complex endeavour. As we’ve gotten deeper into the process and gained learnings, it’s fair to say it’s been trickier than we originally anticipated. The entire dev team has been challenged in a myriad of new ways and are doing an incredible job in the process. I’m excited to eventually share our hard work with you but we need a little more time before we can do that.
As I outlined in June’s blog, we’ve consistently held ourselves accountable to the same three core questions:
- Would we do it in the same way if we had our time again?
- Would we have done this at all?
- Do we have the time required to do this to the highest possible standard, in our first cycle of a new era?
International Management Removed
The challenges we’ve encountered in the development process over the last couple of months have led us to make another difficult decision around game content: international management will not be a playable mode in FM25, FM25 Console or FM25 Touch.
Coming off the back of a summer of tournament football and with this week even being an international break, we’ve looked really hard at international management in FM and determined that what we were planning to deliver wouldn’t reach our initial quality threshold.
We also considered the available game data. Only 5.6% of all FM24 PC saves have used the mode, which we feel validates our view that we need to do much, much better with the experience. That number is even smaller on Console.
So, rather than delay FM25 even further, we’ve paused work on that area of the game and allocated those resources to other key areas. It will continue to exist in FM25, FM25 Console and FM25 Touch as part of the wider simulation of world football, it just won’t be playable.
However, international management will remain playable in FM25 Mobile as that’s on a different development track and codebase. For all other versions, international management will return in a much more feature-rich way to FM26, FM26 Console and FM26 Touch in what will be an exciting year for international football with the World Cup expanding to 48 teams. To be clear, this will return as part of the base game and not as any form of additional downloadable content.
While difficult, these decisions are made for the good of the game and the majority of our players. We are determined to ensure that FM25, the first game in a new engine, is as good as it can be in the time we have. By pushing back FM25’s release date, we’ve given ourselves a few extra weeks of development time to try to deliver the best experience that we can for this first in the new era of Football Manager releases.
Testing Also Delayed
We also announced in June that we would be welcoming FMFC members within a reasonable travel vicinity to come to our campus in London and help with playtesting the new UI/UX of FM25. We received an enormous response to that, and I want to thank everyone who has volunteered and given us their availability. The playtesting will still be going ahead but as a result of the above milestones moving, the start date is shifting slightly. FMFC members who have applied will be contacted shortly with further date options as we begin to finalise the process.
This should be my last development update until we start focusing more on what’s in FM25. We have lots of good stuff to show you that we’re excited about but I want to re-iterate that FM25 is the first instalment in a new era for the game, one that will give us a lot more possibilities than we had with the previous chapter.
FM25 is just the starting point for what is a very exciting, long-term project.
Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
- Date Created
- 04 Sep 2024 14:19:24
- Date Updated
- 04 Sep 2024 14:19:24
- Last Comment
- 05 Sep 2024 14:19:31
Comments
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Deletes weight/ international management but adds women's football.
Normal people: Removes purchase.
The Miller
I've purchased FM every year in its different guises but I won't be purchasing this year's cos it already feels like a disaster. Guna give them a year to sort it out. Happy with FM24 for the time being.
Lebohang Mokoena
I can't accept the argument of "few people use it, we'll take it away". How many people use the lowest division in England or Italy or Spain for example? I do understand the argument of taking it away if they can't do it properly but it is a very important part of the game and there will be many people who will not react well to it.
kingrobbo
Sounds a mess already
What did we expect they have had the current format for a decade + and it is nowhere near as good as it should be
year on year it is released with a load of bugs and it has become the accepted norm it wont be fully patched until March the following year.That isnt good enough.
Now a new format with delayed testing Lol
Bielsa is a Legend
so the new game has really exposed SI's programming / coding skills
they are only comfortable with the minor tweaks and data updates each year
if they include womens football it maybe the end for me-simply not interested
Bielsa is a Legend
agrre mate, without the dedication and skils of our modding community the base game is a joke
imagine playing without the faces, graphics, skins and expanded leagues etc-No thanks
Free version of CM01/02 with updated data is an alternative that is free
davidgogginsenjoyer
utter woke nonsense. not buying the game this year, at least not untill i am actually convinced the game's worth it. the game i would never expect to be lame becomes woke, and the youtubers(which i suspect to be on a payroll) won't say a thing.
kingrobbo
The women's DB will be in it for sure and I welcome that
The issue with International management no longer playable is a disgrace and the reason for stopping it utter BS
the issue is the there is no competitor and so SI have the market to themselves and it appears they dont really care about the loyal customers
especially us on the editing side…if testing is delayed on the game then the editor will be…. lol
some people will keep buying it because there is no other option, but there will be many taking a wait and see approach this year
Bielsa is a Legend
I envisage an improved MR akin to FIFA, but with less emphasis on data and accuracy (which most true fm users thrive on)
the women’s db is fine if it is a choice and can be turned off if needed
FMStrawzy
My only sway will be the new graphics engine. If its gamechanging i'll buy but if not im also sticking with FM24
fmilln7
Does anyone know if all the extra graphics will work i.e ad boards, Static boards, player backgrounds, logos, etc will work with this new engine in FM25? Cheers
\'Appy \'Ammer
I had a feeling there were issues as the silence on the news drops for the new game was deafening. It is September 2024, and I have not played FM24 yet other than to test files. I am working on, and have been working on for what feels like an eternity, a revamped alternative International scene. Not much point really doing that for FM25 if you can't partake in it! If I buy FM25 then I'd have to re-do my files to suit fm25, which will no doubt have a tonne of bugs. It will be a year down the line, I will still be editing and saying how I have not played fm25 yet!
I have to ask though, why completely drop the ability to manage at international level? If they weren't going to do anything to it, then just say so, but leave the option still there. Sounds to me like their major selling point for fm26 will be International management after all the 2026 world cup fever! Suspiciously like a deliberate business plan to me!!!
It's looking like it won't be for me this year, maybe in a year or two I'll consider it. I will stick with editing my fm24 world, to get it the way I want it, and then set out on an extremely long career game.
stuparchmarino
Totally agree.
Steven012
This is total horseshit. I thought the point of FM24 seeing little to no improvement was so they could put all their time and effort into FM25 etc, then you read BS like this and it's all backwards steps. Beyond that, you know what percentage of people will engage in Women's Football? Almost literally 0%! Gotta be woke though in pusuit of that mystcal female FM player that simply doesn't exist, or appease a handful of limp-wristed beta male feminists, and screw over the fans you've already got!
Also, waffling about the Dev team struggling etc doesn't wash at all, espcially because the majority of the people modding these games over the years could probably do a 10x better job in a 10th of the time. They make this game what it is in large part, and all of it unpaid too, volunteering their time for the love of it. Hire them!
The standards of this game have consistently gotten worse and worse, year on year, and I expect this “new era” to be no different. I expect this Unity engine will be a popcorn fart full of bugs and issues, with graphics not worth writing home about. As we've seen with Fifa/EA FC, when one company knows they have the market cornered, the standards go to hell. Guess who gets the shaft? The player. Sadly, I think it's time for a new, quality rival football management sim, at least to keep SI honest if nothing else. This shit is getting to be a very familiar bad habit and I'll be voting with my wallet this year!
DazS8
couldnt agree more, probably shouldnt say it but its absolute shite, no interest in it at all.