Football Manager 26

Football Manager 26 (FM26) has been met with overwhelmingly mixed to negative feedback from its player base, despite being a long-anticipated release after a two-year development cycle. Players praise the significant tactical innovations and improvements in the match engine, which bring more freedom and realism to gameplay. However, the game's core experience is widely criticized for feeling unfinished, with many longstanding issues persisting and new problems introduced.

The UI redesign, intended to modernize the interface and appeal to both PC and console players, is the most frequent target of criticism. It is described as unintuitive, clunky, slow, and requiring excessive clicking, which severely hampers usability and immersion. Numerous beloved features and quality-of-life elements from previous versions have been removed or hidden, further frustrating veteran players. Additionally, bugs, poor optimization, and missing content plague the release, making it feel like an early access or beta rather than a polished full game. Many users express disappointment and concern for the franchise's future, hoping for substantial updates and restoration of core features.

Highlights

The most praised aspects of FM26 are its overhauled tactical system, which allows separate in- and out-of-possession formations and more nuanced player roles. This tactical freedom is seen as a fresh and engaging development for the series.

The match engine improvements, including enhanced animations and more realistic player behaviors, are also well received, making matches more exciting and visually appealing compared to previous editions.

Some reviewers appreciate the modernized look and feel of the game, despite the UI issues, noting that the new graphics and animations add to the immersion when watching matches unfold.

Criticisms

The primary criticisms focus on the UI overhaul, which is widely described as a disaster. Players report that navigation is cumbersome, with many menus buried under multiple layers and requiring excessive clicks. The interface is seen as designed for consoles, alienating the core PC audience. Key information is hidden or missing, and quality-of-life features such as saving lineups, detailed post-match stats, and quick access to data have been removed.

Bugs and technical issues are rampant, including crashes, freezing matches, and poor optimization. Many features present in FM24 are absent or degraded, and the game feels "dumbed down" and less immersive. The graphics improvements are considered modest and insufficient to justify the loss of depth and polish. Overall, the game feels unfinished and rushed despite the extended development time.