Football Manager has finally added women's teams after 20 years. I put the game to the test

Football Manager has finally added women's teams after 20 years. I put the game to the test

2 days ago Share Save Tom Gerken Technology reporter Share Save

Football Manager 26

The most recent edition of the Football Manager game was played by a mind-blowing 20 million people. But last year a new game wasn't released, for the first time in its 20-year history. That's due to significant delays as its studio, Sports Interactive, made massive changes to refresh the series. Usually, minor tweaks and features are added in new versions. But what's coming in Football Manager 26 - when it finally releases on 4 November - is closer to a complete rewrite of everything that came before. Some of the new features are ambitious, to say the least. It will be the first game ever to feature women's football, including around 40,000 players from 14 leagues.

I visited Sports Interactive, the studio behind Football Manager, to get my hands on the game

And the user interface - the system you click through to sign players, read news and get to the football - has been remade. Essentially, it is no minor update. "This isn't a continuation," series boss Miles Jacobson told me. "This is a new game - the start of the next 20 years." He even admitted it wasn't perfect, and said fixes would be needed. And let's be blunt - as the public beta test nears its end, there are a lot of people online who are frankly furious with many of these changes. "The user interface sucks," reads one angry comment. "They ruined my favourite game," reads another. "New leadership is needed," reads a third. Speaking of the leadership, Jacobson accepted this game could impact his future at the studio.

Jacobson has overseen the growth of Football Manager from its humble beginnings to its position as one of the best-selling video game series in history

After last year's cancellation, he told me Football Manager 26 simply needed to be a hit. "You live and die by your decisions," he said. "If it was the wrong decision then I'm not going to be here in a year's time." So what is it - a bold new step for one of the best-selling gaming franchises in history, or a colossal misfire akin to Ange Postecoglou's 39-day stint in charge of Nottingham Forest?

Four years of sweat and tears

Fans of women's football will be relieved to know this is no half-measure. I played through a few seasons as Liverpool in the Women's Super League and was pleasantly surprised by just how well-integrated women are into the game.

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