New Football Manager games come out in the fall. That's the way it's been for 20 years, but now, with FM25, one of the greatest traditions in the history of management and strategy games is coming to an end. Football Manager 2025 is delayed until March, and now, unfortunately, there's some more bad news. Eager to get to work on the new season, FM fans suggested to Sports Interactive that - while everyone waits for FM25 - the developer port the latest statistics, data, and players updates into Football Manager 2024. It sounds like a sensible interim solution, but after some research and experimentation, the developer confirms it's just not possible.
We've got the complete set of Football Manager 2025 system requirements and we're definitely eager for the next edition of the sports strategy game, even if it is delayed by four months. But the soccer world moves fast and player and team rankings are changing all the time. The baseline stats in FM24 don't always reflect the present game - the Mbappé of PSG might be worth less, or more, than the Mbappé of Real Madrid. Sports Interactive says it has considered updating FM24 with all the data for Football Manager 2025, but it's not a feasible solution.
"Following the announcement of the delay to FM25, many of you have called for an official FM24 update with season 2024/25 data," the developer explains. "This is something we have been exploring since the initial internal conversation about postponing the game's release.
"Having now scoped the work that would be required, and despite a good initial response from many of our licensors, we cannot lift assets that we are using in FM25 and make them work in FM24 without recreating them in full. The same applies to the many competition rules, translations, and database changes that cannot be back ported. The updated assets and data would both be required to obtain licensor approval - they cannot be separated."
Sports Interactive explains that updating FM24 with new season data would represent a "substantial undertaking" and detract resources and time needed to deliver Football Manager 2025 at the "highest possible quality." The developer says that anybody who would like a refund on their FM25 pre-order should contact their retailer.
While we wait on the new Football Manager, get some of the other best sports games, or check out all the best upcoming PC games on their way soon.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.