What’s Going On with Football Manager?
Hello there Football Manager developers. You’ve taken the tough decision to cancel Football Manager 25 because it was simply not ready, not up to the quality bar your expected. We the fans stood by you. It was difficult, but we understood. Many speculated that there was a tug of war between SI and SEGA, I decided not to speculate on that but to give you all the benefit of the doubt.
But one thing was clear to me. Your communication strategy or plan, or whatever your marketing department calls it was/is broken. You promised a drip feed of content on FM25. You took too long to course correct and replan the communication. Only to then say no to the whole thing.
I’ve been playing your football management games since Championship Manager 3 (which is why I’m used to your buggy, broken releases I suppose). I’ve not been one of your annual customers, but I’ve always got the big release. The new reworked game. The next big evolutionary step in your series.
Which was why Football Manager 25 was a big deal for me as I’m sure it is for countless other fans. I would like to stress this again. Even though it is disappointing, I’d rather it gets a long delay (or cancellation) than to receive a broken game or as many of your fans or the community have said, a beta test version of the game at launch.
I am OKAY with the game being canceled.
Your Communication Plan Failed!
The problem is with the way you communicated things about the game. We never actually got to see gameplay, the match engine in the end because you guys drip feed the info at a ridiculous pace. I understand the need for official communication that the company greenlights. Making sure everything is proper and correct. But… it wasn’t correct was it.
You took pre-orders before even being sure if the game could make its release date. Who ever greenlit that it was okay to do this, needs to be accountable to this. This surely has eroded the trust of the community and your reputation.
So why continue with this nonsense communication plan going forward? The solution would be to be a more transparent community-driven communication strategy.
The Solution is Not to Communicate The Way You Did Previously
It’s been how long now since FM25 was canceled? And yet not a peep? Not a ‘here’s a confession from our hearts’, ‘a transparent account of what went down and what SI is doing right now’. Please DO NOT continue with this failed communication plan where you only release stuff that goes through the entire bureaucracy and marketing department.
I don’t think any fan expect you guys to be perfect. We understand mistakes will be made. Plans will have to change. But what we don’t appreciate is radio silence. Please Sports Interactive, take a more franks open perspective to your communication.
I believe that if FM26 (if that’s what it will be called) is supposed to usher a new era for Football Manager, then you will need to rethink your communication strategy to be closer to the community.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message. I’m looking forward to seeing how the game is shaping up. Especially how that match engine looks. Good day to you.
For those of you reading this. The fans. Tell me what you think about how SI handled FM25. What do they need to do? What do they need to change? Tell me in the comments.