Football Manager Fans Have a New Option as Sports Interactive Pauses Development
A new contender is entering the football management simulation arena, offering a throwback experience for dedicated fans as Sports Interactive focuses its efforts on a future release. Despite the postponement of Football Manager 25, players will have a new option to scratch that managerial itch with the upcoming PC port of Football Star Manager.
Sports Interactive and Sega made the strategic decision to dedicate all resources to Football Manager 26, following challenges encountered during the development of FM25. The planned FM25 update, intended to be a landmark release featuring women’s football and a transition to the Unity engine, ultimately proved unsatisfactory. A company release indicated the hope that FM26 will benefit from this concentrated development effort.
But the absence of a new Sports Interactive title doesn’t mean the season will pass without a new game. Football Star Manager, created by the original pioneer of the genre, Kevin Toms, is set to launch on Steam on August 14, 2025, coinciding with the start of the English Premier League season.
The game’s origins trace back to 1982, when Toms first programmed a football management simulation. He revisited the concept in 2016 with a mobile release, and now brings his vision to PC gamers. In an ironic announcement trailer, Toms boldly proclaims the game as “the original, the best and the only football manager who will appear this year.”
This isn’t a modern iteration of the genre. According to the game’s creator, Football Star Manager deliberately eschews the features players have come to expect from contemporary football management games. “Say your graphics card, say goodbye to your family and get ready to return to where it all started,” a promotional statement reads, signaling a return to the roots of the genre.
Toms’ initial foray into football management games concluded in 1992. Following a separation from Eidos and the loss of rights to the Championship Manager name, he revived the franchise with Football Manager in 2005. Since then, a new installment has been released annually, until the current pause with the planned FM25.
The shift in focus by Sports Interactive presents a unique opportunity for Football Star Manager to capture a segment of the market yearning for a simpler, more classic experience. While the future of the Football Manager series rests on the success of FM26, fans have a compelling alternative to explore in the interim.
