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Football Manager 2017 puts your face in the game to deal with social media hot takes, rumours

Football Manager 2017

Football Manager 2017’s big reveal is now with us, explaining everything new in the world of couch coaching, including Quick Start mode, putting you in the game with face-scanning and a social media feed to let you know important opinions you should always take seriously.

For more upcoming games we’re mad about, see inside.

On top of Twitter trolls, there are big advancements in AI on the pitch as players are less likely to act like tiny robotic idiots. Also there’s a new camera behind the goal for better looks at formation and painfully missed headers. The whole pitch experience has had an overhaul to seem more life-like as the referee now paints that white line of shaving foam for free kicks, just like real life, and they shake hands before the match, just like real life.

Unlike real life, you now have a Personal Assistant to help out with your emails, which will now see more varied intake such as journalists trying to eke out a scoop or querying a rumour. Rumours have a more direct impact on player transfers now, too, so you can feel what it’s like to let a deal fall through because some lad on Twitter wanted to sound like an insider for a couple thousand more followers.

To increase your attachment to your virtual avatar, you can now choose to stick your own face on their polygonal frame by taking a photo of yourself and choosing some reference points. Just so you don’t end up opening your “mouth” and creating a maw where your eye used to be.

The multiplayer fantasy draft mode, introduced with last year’s edition, now has AI managers too so you don’t have to worry about filling a league table with a full 31-human squad.

There’s also a Quick Start mode which gets the game going much faster than usual by just picking a team and letting the computer sort out the rest for you. And there will now be 64-bit versions of the game to take advantage of speedier processors to make those loading times far less annoying.

There’s so many more details in the video, so watch if you’re a die-hard fan of the series. Or if you’re even die-harder (the worst of the trilogy in my opinion, but still very good) then you can pre-order the game on Steam for 20% off before tomorrow evening.