Why Football Manager 25 Was Cancelled? Know What Miles Jacobson Said

Earlier this month, we had the biggest news in the football gaming community when the teaser for Football Manager 26 was finally dropped. Given the long wait for the response from the franchise, the gaming community has been buzzing in excitement after finding out that a new season is just on the verge of being released.

It goes without saying that the FM24 has been a massive hit among the community who regularly interact and engage with football across all competitions.

However, the massive hit was not followed up by the next season, i.e., FM25, which was expected, given that games of the genre follow the traditional pattern.

While the developer Sports Interactive did not come out to disclose all the reasons, they have stated that they had to make the difficult decision to cancel FM25, given that they want to deliver to the standards we (the gaming community) deserve.

While the news was a bummer for the community, as they have been waiting for the new season for months, after the recent teaser of FC26 that opens with the Peter Dury voice saying, “the wait has been long, the build-up impossible to ignore, so much has changed, but that feeling? It never left,” the gaming community has been buzzing in excitement of the game's possible launch in the fall of 2025.

Amid all the excitement, the community got to listen straight from the series boss, Miles Jacobson, on why Football Manager 25 was cancelled. His answer truly gives a glimpse of the mindset of how big games live up to the expectations.

Why Football Manager 25 Was Cancelled?

While the cancellation of FM25 has always been on the cards since the talks started to surface, it was not until February 2025 that the news was confirmed. Sports Interactive have come out and let the community know that they will be diverting all the energy towards making Football Manager 26 a massive hit.

While Sports Interactive mentioned the expectations of the community being the forefront reason behind the cancellation, after a tweet shared by The Athletic, we finally got to know from the series boss, Miles Jacobson, why Football Manager 25 was cancelled.

@TheAthleticFC took it to their official X to make the announcement on 29th August, 2025, around 2 PM IST. After giving it a full read, there are mixed reactions within the community regarding the decision and the explanation provided by Miles.

Gamers like @Mr_SidSidhu and others were quick to show their appreciation towards the commitment from the series boss.

On the other hand, @joey_163 and many others raised a common concern regarding the refund of the preorder.

Why Football Manager 25 Was Cancelled: What Miles Said

For Miles in particular, the decision of FM25 cancellation came right before Christmas. When he received the build of the game, he decided to play it for a couple of days before coming in with notes on what needed to be adjusted.

However, after spending a few moments with the game, the 54-year-old quickly realized that a lot of important elements are missing from the game.

Describing his thoughts during the moment when he realized how messy things were, he said:

By that time, there have been two occasions where the game has been delayed from the predicted date.

Sports Interactive had its hands full dealing with multiple issues coming their way. The first problem they had to suffer came from a collective human error, as there were multiple people within the team who forgot the bug-fixing process that was needed to publish the game.

While Jacobson mentioned that this was on the team, the second dilemma came their way in the form of legal issues. An email to Sega pretty much put the nail in the coffin for FM 25.

Miles went on to say that there was a realization that it would be impossible to release FM25 on time, given the challenges they have faced. He added that the game could not justify people who spent 50 pounds on what would be released during a cost-of-living crisis.

Football Manager 26: What's Left?

After addressing all the questions of Football Manager 25 cancellation, Miles addressed the much-awaited Football Manager 26 topic.

He mentioned that there is still work to be done as some bugs in the game need to be fixed. Jacobson, with a calm smile, stated that they have some work to do before the game's launch in the fall of 2025.