Football Manager 2023 has been the most played release of the series, helped by the expansion to more platforms so everyone can get involved!
Studio Director Miles Jacobson has recently uploaded a blog post, summarising how the team feels about FM23, and more excitingly, unveiling new details about the future of the title.
This didn't just include key details about FM24, but also FM25, with huge changes set to come...
Football Manager 2023 Overview
Before looking to the future, Miles gave us a retrospective of the FM23 season so far.
Despite being the most played in the series so far, thanks in part to bringing back Football Manager Touch for Apple Arcade and launching FM23 Console on PlayStation 5, he was also aware that the most recent game wasn't good enough for some players.
"[W]e cannot ignore that some of our longer-serving players felt that FM23’s progression had not lived up to the standards and expectations we have set over the years – and to be frank, we agree."
It was still a top-quality game, however, they had to drop a few features to ensure a working game in time. Some of the new features didn't hit the mark as they would have liked, and they couldn't add enough smaller features to make a better experience for the more hardcore gamers.
However, all that is about to change!
FM24
Football Manager 2024 will be the 20th game in the series, and also "the last of its kind".
It will contain a whole host of improvements, big and small, delivering the most complete FM to date and acting as "a love letter to football and the FM series as we know it".
With a larger team, the FM24 feature set is due to be completed earlier than ever, meaning there will be more time to finesse and fix any issues before launch.
Although the new features won't be announced any earlier than in previous years, there was one huge bit of information that Miles let us in on!
"I’m delighted to announce you’ll be able to bring your FM23 career into FM24 across all platforms. This means, when you first launch Football Manager 2024, you'll be given the option to continue your FM23 story, picking up exactly where you left off - powered with the new features and revamps that FM24 will introduce. And it’s not only for this year’s version of the game that this feature will be active. It’s also the plan to bring saved games from FM24 into FM25."
That's right, from FM24 onward, you will be able to continue your Football Manager save from the previous year, with all the new features included.
FM25
If getting some details on Football Manager 2024 wasn't enough for you, then Miles had you covered, with even more revealed about Football Manager 2025!
Miles tells us that the last revolution in the Football Manager series came in FM09 when the 3D engine was first introduced.
Well, with F25, it's time to get ready for the next one!
Massive Graphic Overhaul
The last time there was a revamp of the graphics engine running behind the match engine was in 2017, and you would have to go back further than that to find the last major update to the engine behind the wider game.
In January 2020, a small group was set up to find a way to push their technology forward, becoming known as Project Dragonfly.
Initially, a new-look Football Manager was set to come as FM22, but due to the pandemic, this was delayed. The plan now is to introduce the changes in FM25, giving the team the time they need to hit other deadlines, whilst also fully implementing everything they plan for future releases.
This will include the use of the new Unity engine, which is used in other games including Genshin Impact.
It will be used in Football Manager 2025, FM25 Console and FM25 Touch, although FM25 Mobile won't get the switch, something which will be incorporated in the future.
Unity will give "a lot more power graphically, across all formats, alongside powerful user interface tools" and "will dramatically improve the ways you are able to interact with the game, both inside and outside of a matchday", which may also result in a change to minimum spec required.
In summary:
"FM25 will have a significantly better looking matchday experience - both on the pitch and the supporting stadium environments, alongside a vastly improved user interface that will dramatically improve how you navigate through screens and access all the information available to you as manager."
New Animation Tech
A truer reflection of real-life football will also come thanks to new animation tech being used.
This will first be seen in FM24, with a particular focus on ball physics and player locomotion, before the bulk of improvements come "alongside the graphical upgrades in models, stadiums and the surrounding scenes that will be introduced in FM25".
Women's Football is Coming
Finally, women's football will be coming to FM25!
First announced in July 2021, there haven't been any public updates on the commitment to bring women's football to the title.
Despite making progress in areas including research, the match engine and translations, enough advancements weren't made, with legal issues proving a stumbling block.
It is important that when the women's game is introduced it is the best it can possibly be, which is why we will wait until Football Manager 2025 to see it included.
However, with the new graphics engine and plenty of new features coming, it looks like FM25 will be the best place to get started for women's football!
You can read the full post from Miles Jacobson here.