Football Manager 26 Releases To Mostly Negative Reviews

• The global launch of Football Manager 2026 met with further negative feedback
• More than 1,000 mostly negative reviews on Steam in two hours after launch
• FM24 will soon be removed from subscription platforms, not game libraries
• Players reporting issues on every platform

More Than 1,000 Reviews In Two Hours After Game Launch

Sports Interactive has been in a race against time since FM26 went into its Beta test environment on Oct. 23. Players have been complaining about game crashes, bugs, and a poor user interface since they got their hands on the game. Now that the game has officially released on Xbox, PS5, PC, and mobile, it is to no one’s surprise that fans are livid.

Within two hours the game’s Steam page had more than 1,000 reviews – mostly negative – repeating what fans have been saying throughout testing. Steam user K said he believes the game cannot be salvaged.

“As someone who has been playing Football Manager for Many years, it honestly hurts me to write this as a mainly negative review – but FM 2026 is a huge disappointment in its current state,” K wrote on Steam one hour after release.

“Yes, the new engine looks promising. It clearly has potential for the future and there are moments when you can see what this new generation of FM could become in a few years. But right now? It feels like the soul of the series has been ripped out.”

FM24 Soon Removed From Subscription Platforms

The official X (formerly Twitter) account declared yesterday that Football Manager 2024 will be sunsetting from subscription platforms e.g. Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, in line with Football Manager 2026’s launch. In the statement on Football Manager’s official website this is due to expiring licence agreements.

“End dates on license agreements for Football Manager 2024 mean that the game will shortly be removed from purchase on digital stores and play on select subscription platforms,” the statement reads.

“Previous digital or physical purchases of any FM24 title via Steam, Epic, Windows, Xbox, PS5 or Nintendo Switch will remain in your library and you can continue playing indefinitely.”

The FM24 removal schedule.

It is clear that many commentators on X below the announcements are from people who did not read the full text on the official website as they were still unaware of the game remaining in their library as more than a few said they never gave consent for FM24 to be removed from there.

Others were more keen on pointing out that they would rather keep FM24 in favor of removing FM26.

“Sort out FM26 before you remove FM24. You’ve had 2 years. Going to lose a lot of loyal gamers with this current game,” Sam Lincoln commented on X.

Players On Every Platform Experience Problems With FM26

Xbox players have mentioned issues with lags and using a mouse for inputs as not working properly, another player called the game “near unplayable on controller on PS,” mobile players were not able to download the game even three hours after launch, while PC players believe that theirs is the original platform and that it has been abandoned by the developers.

“We’ve got to understand that this is a Beta version on launch day. They haven’t had enough time in 24 months,” DG1903 commented on X.

This refers to the cancellation of Football Manager 2025 due to poor quality, and the sheer number of bugs reported during the Beta testing that started on Oct. 23 all the way up until the day before launch.

Players have also been pointing out in social media that the current state of the game is the same as the Beta version and that they are holding out with purchases until major updates have been made.

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