After an unexpected and unprecedented extended season, the next iteration of Football Manager, Football Manager 26, now has a release date.
Football Manager 26 will launch in November on PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Mac and Netflix. The PC version is now available for pre-order.
Football Manager 26 is switching to the Unity engine, a change that took some time to the point of cancelling Football Manager 25 over quality concerns. Hence, the extended season of fellow players having to stick to the same game for another year, breaking a 20-year streak of yearly releases.
But for those who are still playing with their old saves, Football Manager 26 allows the import of FM24 and even FM23 saves (FM26 Mobile can only import FM24 saves), so you can continue your long-running managerial duties into the new game.
Football Manager 26 previously shown off its new matchday engine, a huge upgrade in 3D graphics (maybe not up to par with your big budget sports games, but still a major leap nonetheless).
Developer Sports Interactive has since showcased its revamped UI. The sidebar on the left of the screen has beens shuffled into a category of five major tabs, with a drop-down for each of them. The home page, now called the Portal, is revamped with easy access to the emails while retaining most of the “at-a-glance” info you need like upcoming fixtures and league table standings.
There’s also bookmarks, allowing you quick-access to specific menus. Even if you don’t bookmark a page, FM will slowly populate them with your most-accessed pages automatically.
The search function has been expanded, and with FM26, it will introduce FMpedia, in an in-game wiki and resource page to explain every feature. This is highly useful for those who play Football Manager as a strategy game first and a fan of football second, as an equivalent of Civilization’s Civilopedia is a great way to get up to speed without having to leave the game itself.
Football Manager 26 kicks off on November 5 on PS5, PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Mac and Netflix