Football Manager 26 will be released across platforms from November 4.
This news comes after Football Manager 25 was cancelled by the the game’s developers, Sports Interactive, in February 2025 after several delays in the release of the game.
The delays and eventual cancellation of the game revolved around switching from an in-house game engine to an outside engine called Unity.
The change proved more complicated and lengthy than expected, and left developers with too little time to deliver the quality fans and developers expect.
The new edition promises players the “most comprehensive database of its kind” and “a reimagined user interface” as well as the inclusion of women’s football, as was planned for 2025, for the first time.
In announcing the release date, Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson said: “I’m honoured and delighted to be revealing Football Manager 26’s release date today.
“Setting Sports Interactive up for the next 20 years and beyond was an enormous undertaking but I couldn’t be prouder of the efforts of the whole team over the past two years.
“FM26 represents a landmark release in our quest to produce football management perfection and the whole studio is really excited to share it with the world.”
Sports Interactive had to endure an “embarrassing” 12 months following issues with Football Manager 25. The game was billed as the studio’s next big step but it was cancelled three months after it was initially set to be released.
Jacobson told The Athletic in August: “I feel the need to apologise to our community for not delivering last year. We’ve become a big part of people’s lives. We understand that and the responsibility that we have for people using our game to escape.
“It’s important. But pulling the game last year was absolutely the right thing to do.”
(Photo: Alex Livesey – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Sep 10, 2025
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