After multiple delays, Football Manager 25 has now been cancelled

Football Manager 25 has been cancelled, Sports Interactive has announced.

In a statement posted on the official Football Manager account on X, the developer stated that “following extensive external discussion and careful consideration with Sega“, the focus will now shift to the next game in the series.

“For the large numbers of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support – we’re very sorry to have let you down,” the statement reads.

“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 can only apologise for the time it has taken to communicate this decision. Due to stakeholder compliance, including legal and financial regulations, today was the earliest date that we could issue this statement.

“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.

“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.”

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. pic.twitter.com/tLRbq8305K

— Football Manager (@FootballManager) February 7, 2025

The studio adds that while it could have released Football Manager 25 in an unfinished state and continue to build on it with patches, “that’s not the right thing to do”, and that a further delay beyond March would have been too late into the current football season.

Football Manager was originally supposed to be released in early November, before getting its first delay and a November 26 release date.

This was then delayed again to March 2025, with Sports Interactive saying its first delay had “not been sufficient to ensure the game quality and experience meets your expectations and our very high standards”.

The game was set to be one of the most notable updates in the series’ history, mainly down to the inclusion of women’s football for the first time and Sports Interactive’s decision to implement an entirely new graphics system using the Unity engine, a move it previously said would mark “the starting point for the studio’s next 20 years”.

This transition is now taking longer than expected, hence the initial delays and now the decision to cancel the game outright and shift development to the next one.