We may earn a commission when you buy through links in our articles. Learn more.

Here’s why you can’t buy old versions of Football Manager

Football Manager 2020 is the only version of the game you can buy - here's why

fm-20-wonderkids-best

Football Manager 2020 is currently the game in the series you can buy. That might not seem like a huge deal, but when you consider you can still buy old copies of, say, Call of Duty or even FIFA, it does start to feel a little odd.

It turns out there’s a very simple reason why you can’t buy Football Managers from yesteryear: licences. “Our licenses have run out on older versions, so we can’t have them available whether paid or free,” says game director Miles Jacobson. And there’s no chance of that changing either, according to Jacobson: “[The licences] can’t be renewed. It’s not a price thing. It’s a rights thing.”

The news will likely disappoint the section of series fans who prefer the older, simpler titles to the newer games, which are deeper but more demanding. Given Football Manager 2020 is currently free-to-play, many had asked developer Sports Interactive to make past versions of the game available for free, too. No dice, unfortunately.

The consolation goal is that FM 2020’s free-play period has been extended. The promotion was due to end on March 25, but you can actually carry on playing for the low, low price of nothing until 07:00 PT / 10:00 ET / 15:00 BST on April 1.

If you’re a fan of free PC games, you might want to check out the latest free Epic Store titles, which include Watch Dogs and The Stanley Parable for just another couple of days. There’s also our guide to the best football games on PC, if you want to try your foot at another title. Oh, and speaking of older versions – here are the best old games on PC.