Football Manager 2025 Officially Cancelled & Why It’s Not All Bad

Football Manager 2025 has been cancelled. FM25 is no more, Sports Interactive have confirmed this morning.

A sad day for sure, and disappointing that there’ll be no FM game this year or for this current season.

This comes on the back of 2 delays, with the game’s latest March 2025 release date being shelved and the game being officially cancelled as of 7th February 2025.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Sports Interactive released a statement this morning which said:

“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.”

“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.”

You can read the statement in full here at Football Manager/Sports Interactive.

So, am I surprised? Are you surprised?

I’m not.

How did we get here?

FM 25 was going to be a huge step and an exciting time for all. The move to a brand new game engine, Unity, could give the game a huge overhaul which many have been asking about for years. Rather than incremental updates, this was going to be a brand new game.

Of course that would mean a massive undertaking, and as it turns out, a one too big to get perfectly right, or even acceptably right in the timeframe they had.

The game was announced, delayed and then delayed again, with a few updates coming along the way.

But the updates that were noticed were features which were removed from previous games, rather than new additions other than women’s football and of course a new engine.

No international football management, no data chalkboard, no social media, no create a club/versus and the biggest for me, no touchline shouts which I use a lot.

There was also an announcement of the player weight attribute no longer being shown, which was mostly met with ridicule from fans online.

With all that said the game was delayed, and then delayed again to March 2025, and here we are today with the game being cancelled.

It’s got to be sad for the developers who’ve no doubt worked hard on this game, only for it never to be released, my heart goes out to them.

Why The FM25 Cancellation Is Not All Bad

I am not completely disappointed by the cancelled Football Manager 2025, or should I say surprised, probably because I never thought the game would be released. Even if it were, two delays and a game which would almost be out of date when it’s released in 2025 isn’t a huge let down for me.

I am old enough to remember the delayed version of Championship Manager 3, which was released in 26th March 1999, and CM4 which was released 28th March 2003.

The CM3 days were particularly fun, with no Internet and no real way of knowing when the game would be released, it was a case of going into games shops in the town to ask them.

Going in every few Friday’s after school, only to hear “It’s not out yet“.

Everyone remembers the CM4 release being a total disaster, but I can’t actually remember it being that bad.

So with that, I’d rather wait and have a good FM26, then a buggy or rubbish FM25, especially since I have no real complains over FM24.

Let’s be honest, Football Manager is a really long game, it’s fun, but it takes a long time. As the games have grown, it’s taken longer and longer, it’s got more in depth, which is both a good thing and bad thing. I enjoy it being so big, so I am more than happy to keep on playing FM24 until next winter.

Having Fun On Previous Versions Of Championship Manager

If you’re old enough, you’ll remember how fun the old Champ Man days were, and I have been getting them back! Playing the older games are so much fun, and so fast.

If you’re under 30 or you’ve only played Football Manager with a visual engine it probably won’t appeal to you, but the old CM games are so fun. Players from the 90’s, super fast gameplay, it’s so fun.

I’ve been having lots of fun going back to CM93, CM93-94 and CM Italia from the Amiga days, and CM 97-98 and CM 01-02 from the early PC days. (p.s. there’s entire communities playing the older games, especially Champ Man 01-02 with current season updates).

side note: If you get frustrated with the winning/losing in the current era of FM, play an early CM game. I forgot how random things were!

So there we are, there’s no Football Manager 2025.

The saddest thing for me is that it’s symbolic.

I believe that this is the first time there’s not been a new CM/FM since the beginning. The first EVER time there’s been no new game. That’s an end to a 33 year streak.

More info for you:

Will FM24 Get A 2024-2025 Data Update?

Sports Interactive have already confirmed that the current Football Manager 2024 will not get an official data update. This is due to licencing reasons.

Can We Still Play FM24 on XBOX Gamepass beyond March 2025?

This is the big question for many, including myself, being a current Xbox Gamepass subscriber. For the moment, the official word is that they are ‘currently talking’ to platform partners and licensors.