Football Manager 2025 finally scrapped after months of delays | OneFootball

The release has previously twice been delayed by months

Football Manager 2025 has finally been scrapped after two previous delays, with Sports Interactive now set to focus on the 2026 release.

FM25 had previously been teased as the biggest leap forward for the popular video game series, including a new match engine, complete gameplay and visual overhaul and the inclusion of women's football.

It was initially delayed back in the autumn and then again to March 2025, but there had been radio silence in the months since.

But, announced as part of Sega's latest financial results, a statement the sporting franchise will now skip the 2025 release altogether. Sports Interactive also confirmed that there will be no data update released for FM24 for the current 2024-25 season.

"For the large number of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support -- we're very sorry to have let you down," Sports Interactive said in a statement.

"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.

"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 he 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.

"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.

"Through the cancellation, every effort is not focused on ensuring that our next release achieves out 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."