While its decades-long roots are strictly in the PC realm, the Football Manager series has long since expanded out into console and mobile versions, with many players accessing the game through these options. Although popular options for virtual managers are capable of providing a fun management experience, that doesn’t mean that every version of the game is exactly the same.
To ensure the game runs efficiently and effectively on systems with limited capability, such as mobile and touch versions, or navigability, like console games, specific tweaks and changes are required. If you’re considering picking up Football Manager 26 but haven’t decided what version to get, it can be helpful to understand the differences between the various versions available. Here’s what you need to know about the difference FM 26 versions so you can make the right choice for you.
Why Are There Different Versions Of Football Manager 26
Video game porting may seem like a simple enough proposition to industry outsiders, but in reality, it can be quite challenging to convert a game to be effective across multiple platforms, with each posing unique problems you may encounter. Most often, the changes between platform versions comes down to two key considerations.
First up is the functional capability of the operating machine. While modern phones are far more powerful than even just a handful of years ago, that doesn’t put them on par with powerful PCs, which have similarly continued to grow in capability. Reduction in scope is an unfortunate but necessary concession for some versions of the game operating on less-powerful systems.
The other common reason to alter how a game plays or presents across platforms is to account for the gamer’s hardware they’re using to play it. On PC, players are likely using a mouse and keyboard, while console gamers almost certainly have a controller. As the name implies, FM Touch players, as well as FM Mobile players, are likely using their fingers and touch screens to navigate. Different input methods require different setups to be effective and easy to use.
Football Manager Differences: PC Vs. Console Vs. Touch Vs. Mobile
While the official website is still showing official difference statistics for Football Manager 24, the folks at FM Scout have broken down how that has translated into differences in the first edition of the game on the Unity engine. Here’s everything that separates the various ways you can play Football Manager 26:
- Playable nations: The first area of scope that affects different versions of the game across platforms is the number of potential options you have to choose from when setting up your database. Even at the lowest capability, the Football Manager games still come with scopes that other sports games would dream of, but the PC options have even more so. For playable nations, all but FM 26 Mobile and its 27 options come with the maximum 58 leagues loaded.
- Playable leagues: This is where you start to see more differentiation between versions. Mobile remains the least expansive, with 89 possible leagues to include. Both the console version and Football Manager 26 Touch expand to nearly the full slate with 148 playable leagues. Finally, at the top of the pyramid is the PC version with a massive 156 playable leagues to choose from when getting started.
- National limits: On the PC version of Football Manager 26, the only limit to what you choose to include when establishing a database is your PC’s power and your own patience for processing time. For the console version, some restrictions apply with a maximum of ten nations loaded as playable, while the two small-screen options further reduce this to five active nations loaded per save.
- Database size: The area with the most room for deviation is in the player database size possible on each, starting with approximately 35,000 players for the mobile version. This expands to 45,000 on FM Touch and further to 60,000 for console players. Where PC really shines, however, is in your ability to choose to expand to a database of more than 750,000 players, dwarfing all other options.
- Save length limits: For players who like to play one save for a long time, or to do long-running simulations well into the future, the PC version again has an edge. While all other versions max out at 30-year careers, more than enough for nearly all players’ needs, there is no cap on the PC, so you can run a save into the indefinite future should you desire.
- Unity engine involvement: The switch to Unity for Football Manager 25, and ultimately for Football Manager 26, when 25 was never released, is the most notable thing about the latest Football Manager game, but that’s not true for all versions. While nearly all versions of the game are developed with the new engine, Football Manager 26 Mobile remains on SI’s own proprietary engine.
Even the least expansive Football Manager games remain a marvel of scope; however, now you know that if you have plans that require the absolute most grandiose experience, then PC is the way to go. For other gamers whose goals fit within several or all of the options, it’s all about which one you will enjoy playing on the most. Are you planning to pick up Football Manager 26 or already playing it, and if so, on which console?
