Football Manager 26 is due out in November. And with it being the first entry in the series since the cancellation of Football Manager 25 earlier this year, it has been hyped to oblivion by developer Sports Interactive. But is the hype enough to justify fans of the franchise reaching into their wallets and purchasing the game?
Full disclosure: I’m using the word “hype” because it’s the easiest, laziest, and most efficient way to describe the promotion for Football Manager 26. And, being a notorious advocate for procrastination, I’ll use it here. That said, I don’t want my usage of the term to be misconstrued as pejorative or dismissive. Because, truth be told, there’s a lot to be excited about, or, at the very least, interested in.
For one, I’m a massive Football Manager fan and have been for close to a decade ever since I was introduced to the series. And FM26 represents the biggest leap the series has seen since I started playing it way back in 2017.
For one, the game will boast a new graphics engine powered by Unity, giving the 3D match engine a much-needed facelift and inviting more immersion when watching all of the action play out. I, for one, was a big fan of the way it looked when it was revealed. Will it rival the latest Death Stranding title in terms of its visual fidelity? Absolutely not. That said, the graphics have never been the selling point of the Football Manager series to begin with — it’s always been about creating tactics, managing egos, and getting lost as the fictional footballing universe evolves around you. Regardless, it’s nice for that experience to have a shiny new coat of paint applied to it, even if it looks more akin to FIFA 10 than it does EA FC 25.
Another reason for many fans’ excitement is the game’s new user interface, which (judging from what SI has shown us) promises to change everything about how we actually interact with the game. I mentioned it when we reported on it, but the choice of UI in Football Manager means a whole lot more than it does in other sports games, given that 95% of the game is spent inside of these menus.
Will Football Manager 26 Be Worth Buying?
After all of that, it’s time to answer the question: Should gamers reach into their pocket and spend $60 on Football Manager 26 when it’s released on November 4, 2025? It’s your money, and you’re free to do what you want with it, but I say yes.
Is it as big a leap in terms of visuals as maybe some were hoping for? Perhaps not, but I don’t see anything that’s been shown pre-release to be bad or alarming. Year after year, SI has delivered a quality product that costs a flat fee for the whole product. Outside of an in-game editor that you can pick up for $9, there are never any microtransactions (in the full PC game), nor is there any content that is locked behind a paywall. And, even if some years haven’t shown a massive improvement in terms of the game itself, it’s always been (in my opinion) a good experience.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me cheerleading for Sports Interactive or Sega, or anything like that. If the game looked like doo-doo or if it looked at odds with the standard that has been set with previous entries into the series, I’d say so. It’s not like I was kind to Sports Interactive when they went silent earlier this year regarding the development of FM25 after they had accepted pre-orders.
