Football Manager 2025’s death was inevitable as the “mountain of work” to leave SI’s “20-plus year” technology behind was “underestimated”, claim devs

In simpler terms, it’s clear that Football Manager 2025 won’t be coming out, and this wasn’t unexpected. Given that the game was pushed back until the end of the football season, it seemed logical for the developers at Sports Interactive to decide it was time to cut their losses and start working on the next installment in the series instead.

As a gamer, I’m left scratching my head about Football Manager 2025. After years of consistent releases, why did this latest edition turn out to be such a catastrophe? The shift in technology from the old platform to Unity seems to have been the culprit. Developers at Sports Interactive might have underestimated the sheer amount of work required to tailor a niche series like ours to these new tools, which they’ve likened to an enormous mountain.

Football Manager 2025 devs may have underestimated their work

As a gamer, I’ve noticed that Football Manager has been running on the same tech since 2004 – but it’s time for a change! To ensure our beloved series stays relevant in the future, we’ve decided to switch gears and transition to the Unity game engine.

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Brennan clarified that they felt it was necessary to switch things up,” he said. “After considering several alternatives, they chose to adopt the Unity engine.

In the article, a developer who has worked with Unity shared insights about the significant hurdle they faced when transferring projects from a unique game engine into Unity. The existing engine, which powers the game, differs significantly from the 20-year-old fundamentals of Sports Interactive’s series. This disparity may have led the team to underestimate the extent of work required.

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The developer noted that transitioning technology during the development process, especially when moving a product to a new platform and launching a fresh version, can be consistently demanding. In this case, transferring from a custom engine to Unity will come with its own set of difficulties. Regrettably, there’s no quick fix or shortcut that instantly converts all your code, libraries, and assets. There are unique rules, file formats, and proportions involved, which can lead to an underestimation of the considerable workload required.

Instead, let me rephrase it for you: The developer stated that transitioning to the engine would bring numerous benefits since Sports Interactive no longer has to create and maintain their own development tools. Notably, developers like CD Projekt (Cyberpunk) and Halo Studios have also chosen this path recently.

Many Football Manager enthusiasts are disappointed that no new installment will come out this year, but the delay could be a positive sign instead. This means FM26 might have more refinements and the future of the series may be more stable. Additionally, this situation offers some valuable lessons: game creation is challenging, and swapping engines isn’t as simple as it might seem. Keep that in mind when you play Bethesda games next time.

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2025-02-13 17:40