Football Manager 25 AXED as grovelling developers confess to furious fans – 'we’re sorry to have let you down'

Developers behind the iconic Football Manager series of games have cancelled the release of the 2025 edition.

The cult game, which originally launched as Championship Manager more than 30 years ago, has built up a huge following - attracting millions of players with its in-depth coverage of football at all levels, including the lower leagues of the SPFL. FM25, which was due to be released in November, was set to be the first in the series to include women's football and be officially licensed by the English Premier League.

Billed as "the beginning of a new era for Football Manager" the game was going to be the first built using a new engine, with a host of popular features including create-a-club, challenge mode, versus mode and fantasy draft all axed. However on the brink of SEGA declaring their latest financial results, a 2.30am statement posted on social media revealed that the game won't be launched - and that teams have now switched their focus to FM26, due out later this year.

The statement from Sports Interactive said: "Sports Interactive regret to inform that, following extensive internal discussion and careful consideration with SEGA, we have made the difficult decision to cancel Football Manager 25 and shift our focus to the next release. For the large numbers of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support – we’re very sorry to have let you down.

"We know this will come as a huge disappointment, especially given that the release date has already moved twice, and you have been eagerly anticipating the first gameplay reveal. We can only apologise for the time it has taken to communicate this decision. Due to stakeholder compliance, including legal and financial regulations, today