Football Manager 25 cancelled due to tech woes

Football Manager 25 has been cancelled after the game’s creators, Sports Interactive, admitted the planned “technical and visual advancement” would not be ready in time.

The FM series is the world’s most popular football manager simulation game and fans had been eagerly awaiting the 2025 version but a series of setbacks had seen it repeatedly delayed.

And SI confirmed today they had run out of time.

Sports Interactive regret to inform that we have made the difficult decision to cancel Football Manager 25.

Full statement: https://t.co/0eUMryrqbg pic.twitter.com/9kxgXQCgJG

— Football Manager (@FootballManager) February 7, 2025

In a statement, they said: “Sports Interactive regret to inform that, following extensive internal discussion and careful consideration with SEGA, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Football Manager 25 and shift our focus to the next release. 

“We know this will come as a huge disappointment, especially given that the release date has already moved twice, and you have been eagerly anticipating the first gameplay reveal. 

“We have always prided ourselves on delivering the best value for money games that bring you countless hours of enjoyment, that feel worth every moment and every penny you spend. With the launch of FM25 we set out to create the biggest technical and visual advancement in the series for a generation, laying the building blocks for a new era.

“Due to a variety of challenges that we’ve been open about to date, and many more unforeseen, we currently haven’t achieved what we set out to do in enough areas of the game, despite the phenomenal efforts of our team. Each decision to delay the release was made with the aim of getting the game closer to the desired level but, as we approached critical milestones at the turn of the year, it became unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required, even with the adjusted timeline.

“We could have pressed on, released FM25 in its current state, and fixed things down the line – but that’s not the right thing to do. We were also unwilling to go beyond a March release as it would be too late in the football season to expect players to then buy another game later in the year.”

SI say they remain hopeful of meeting the deadline for the release of FM26.