Sega Announces Cancellation of "Football Manager 25," Development Assets to Be Carried Over to Next Title

Sega Corporation announced that it has canceled the release of "Football Manager 25."
Development assets will be carried over to the next title.

Sega Decides to Cancel "Football Manager 25" Release

Sports Interactiveは、社内での広範な議論そしてセガとの入念な検討の結果、苦渋の決断ではありますが、『Football Manager 25』の発売を中止することを決定いたしました。

告知全文：https://t.co/vZGaDrZALI pic.twitter.com/IBKHogyI5l

— Football Manager JPN (@fm_japan) February 7, 2025

"Football Manager" is a popular series by Sega and UK game developer Sports Interactive.
Both companies were developing "Football Manager 25" as their latest title, but on Friday, February 7, 2025, they announced its cancellation.

The decision to cancel the release was made because it was determined that securing quality would take longer than anticipated.
Development assets will be carried over, and efforts will focus on developing the next title.

Message from Sports Interactive (Excerpt)

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 a variety of challenges that we’ve been open about to date, and many more unforeseen, we currently haven’t achieved what we set out to do in enough areas of the game, despite the phenomenal efforts of our team. Each decision to delay the release was made with the aim of getting the game closer to the desired level but, as we approached critical milestones at the turn of the year, it became unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required, even with the adjusted timeline.

Whilst many areas of the game have hit our targets, the overarching player experience and interface is not where we need it to be. As extensive evaluation has demonstrated, including consumer playtesting, we have clear validation for the new direction of the game and are getting close – however, we’re too far away from the standards you deserve.
We could have pressed on, released FM25 in its current state, and fixed things down the line - but that’s not the right thing to do. We were also unwilling to go beyond a March release as it would be too late in the football season to expect players to then buy another game later in the year.

Official Website Also Publishes FAQ Regarding Development Cancellation

Does this affect all platforms and versions of Football Manager 25?

Yes, all versions are cancelled and FM25 will not be released on any platforms.

I pre-ordered the game on PC / Mac how do I obtain my refund?

Pre-Purchase orders for Football Manager 25 will automatically be refunded in full if purchased through an official SEGA approved retailer. Retailers will process refunds in due course, for any enquiries please contact your point of purchase.

Why didn’t you cancel FM25 earlier when you opted to delay in March?

At the time of the decision, based on the data available, it was our strong belief that we could reach our quality target level and deliver a game our players would be happy with, despite the delay. The challenges encountered beyond this point meant we were unable to achieve that.

An FM25 update was promised in January. Why the delay in sharing this information?

As stated above, stakeholder compliance impacted the sharing of information until now which relates to SEGA Sammy Holdings being a publicly traded company.

Will there be an FM24 update with 2024/25 season data?

No.
No. As we said in October when the game was delayed, this is a substantial undertaking and would divert critical resources away from the development of the next release which requires our full focus.

Will FM24 remain playable on subscription platforms?

We are currently in discussions with our various platform partners and licensors and hope to extend our FM24 agreements. We will provide an update on this in due course.

Those who pre-purchased the digital version can receive a refund based on each store's platform policy.
For more details regarding the cancellation of the release, please refer to the Sports interactive Official Website.