• SEGA has announced that the intended launch of Football Manager 25 has been cancelled.
• The company says it will instead focus on next year’s title.
• SEGA explains that “the overarching player experience and interface is not where we need it to be”.

A mainstay on the football gaming calendar, SEGA has unfortunately decided to cancel this year’s Football Manager (FM25).

The title was initially outlined for a release in January this year, with the release date having been pushed back twice already to March. SEGA has seemingly opted to cut its losses now, and instead focus on next year’s iteration of the football simulation title.

“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,” SEGA shared in an official statement.

“Whilst many areas of the game have hit our targets, the overarching player experience and interface is not where we need it to be. As extensive evaluation has demonstrated, including consumer playtesting, we have clear validation for the new direction of the game and are getting close – however, we’re too far away from the standards you deserve,” it added.

The title is massively popular among the football community, especially for those interested in management and player scouting, with the accuracy and predictive qualities of this in-game aspect being leveraged by many for more than simply playing games.

SEGA confirmed that refunds will e issued in “due course” for anyone who pre-ordered Football Manager 25.

It also explained that no 24/25 season data would be made available as an update for the previous iteration of the game, as this would, “divert critical resources away from the development of the next release which requires our full focus,” according to SEGA.

As for support for the current version of the game, Football Manager 24, the company said that it is, “currently in discussions with our various platform partners and licensors and hope to extend our FM24 agreements. We will provide an update on this in due course.”

“Through the cancellation, every effort is now focused on ensuring that our next release achieves our goal and hits the quality level we all expect. We will update you on how we are progressing with that as soon as we are able to do so,” it concluded.