Football Manager 25 Canceled After Two Postponements

The game's creators said the newest update to the popular Football Manager series has been cancelled.

Fans of the long-running video game began to speculate about its destiny after an update that was supposed to be released late last month did not materialize.

In a blog post, developer Sports Interactive stated that it had made the "difficult decision" to cancel the 2025 edition because it was "too far away from the standards you deserve".

It stated that it will now focus on the 2026 edition of the game, and those who had preordered the cancelled release may receive a refund.

Football Manager, which debuted in 2004, allows fans to take on the manager role and lead a chosen team through a season.

Sports Interactive vowed to improve the game's looks and usability in the next edition and incorporate women's teams for the first time.

The company previously told BBC Newsbeat that it needed to create a new statistics database and record additional motion-capture sequences for female gamers.

It also said that it had reduced the size of its international management mode and had deleted or stopped development on various additional elements found in prior games.

Sports Interactive said it was unwilling to delay the game beyond March "because it would be too late in the football season".

The corporation apologized to supporters and stated that financial regulations and shareholder duties prevented them from announcing the postponement sooner.

"Every effort is now directed at ensuring that our next release meets our objectives and the quality standards we all demand.

"We will update you on how we are progressing with that as soon as possible."