Good news Football Manager 2023 players, the infamous Winter Main Data Update has finally arrived.
From new transfers and managerial changes to wholesale gameplay improvements, your favourite update has finally dropped.
Check below for full details of everything that has changed in Football Manager 2023.
FM23 Main Data Update
The Football Manager 2023 Main Data Update went live on Thursday, 2 March, bringing a host of major changes to the game.
The FM23 Winter Update is highly anticipated every year as it brings new transfers, gameplay updates and bug fixes to the game.
Seen as something of a season 2 refresh, there has never been a better time to get started in your new managerial career.
This year's wording of 'main data update' suggests there will be more to follow, with Sports Interactive also stating that "further updates will follow in the coming weeks, covering transfers and player rating changes from later closing windows, including MLS."
The download size of the update is a whopping 2.14GB on Steam, suggesting it will be as it says, the MAIN data update this winter/spring.
As well as PC, the update is also now live on FM23 Console (Xbox, PS5), FM23 Touch (Apple Arcade and Nintendo Switch), and FM23 Mobile (iOS/Android).
Patch Notes
Changes in the 23.3 update include, but are not limited to:
- Stability and crash fixes
- Fixes to reduce mistakes from bad touches in certain areas of the pitch
- Fixes to defenders not preparing correctly for crosses in certain situations
- Improvements to defender reaction to long through balls
- Tweaks to make attacking players move quicker to support counter-attacks
- Improvements to how AI managers use different midfield role combinations
- Improvements to central defender and defensive midfielder positioning from long goal kicks
- Improvements to how attacking wide players track back when defending
- Fixes for defending wide indirect free kicks at the edge of the area
- 'Header won' statistic now only counts contested headers
- Improvements to the Recruitment Focus logic
- Fixed cases of reserve or youth team tactics appearing blank in the Development Centre
- Tweaks to development loans for AI teams
- Improvements to fixture scheduling, particularly the frequency of consecutive home or away games
- Updated substitution rules across various competitions
What is the Winter Update?
Football Manager 2023's Winter Update brings bug fixes and subtle gameplay tweaks, acting upon anything reported to the developers by players since the game's full launch.
The Football Manager 2023 Winter Update has also brought changes to player ratings and may even see new wonderkids added to the game, as happened a few years ago with the arrival of Borussia Dortmund hotshot Youssoufa Moukoko.
With real-life managerial changes and player transfers reflected in-game, Football Manager 2023's Winter Update promises to bring a fresh face-lift to your save.