Football Manager 2020 - Out 19th November 2019

[Jimmy Wong]

EVERYONE’S GOT AN OPINION…
DO SOMETHING WITH YOURS

 

London, England – 27 August 2019

Football is a game of opinions. From team selection to transfers and tactics, everyone has their own ideas on how to get results on the pitch. Sports Interactive™ and SEGA® are giving would-be managers the chance to prove that their opinion means more than most when Football Manager 2020 releases in November.

FM20 will give players the chance to call the shots at their favourite club as they take control of their team’s destiny and make all the decisions that a real manager does as they develop their team and attempt to deliver a sustained level of success.

 

We have today released the first trailer for the game that should whet the appetite ahead of the game’s key feature announcements, the first details of which will be revealed in mid-September through the Football Manager website and via the official FM social media channels (including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube).

But even though we aren’t talking about new game features today, we do have other things to talk about which you can see below.

Football Manager 2020 is the follow up to the record-breaking Football Manager 2019, which is the fastest selling, best-selling, and most played version of the series to date across all of its release platforms. Nine months after its release, more than 60% of the people who have bought the PC/Mac game in its lifetime are still playing it each month.

This year also marks the first time in the long-running series’ history that Football Manager will be available as a launch title on a new platform as Football Manager 2020 is set to make its debut on Google’s Stadia and will be the fastest way to experience Football Manager.

Miles Jacobson, Studio Director of Sports Interactive, says “Football Manager on Stadia includes technology that is only available on that platform, utilising the power of the cloud and Google’s data centres to ensure that more matches can be processed in parallel utilising spare bandwidth across the whole system – this means you can have more leagues loaded into your save, or just go for a faster experience by keeping the amount of leagues the same, but having the matches process quicker than you can on any other platform.”

From today until launch, fans who pre-purchase Football Manager 2020 (for PC and Mac), from a SEGA approved digital retailer* (or pre-order from a participating physical retailer) will receive a 10% discount. Additionally, those who pre-purchase through a SEGA approved digital retailer will be able to get their managerial careers underway early through a fully-playable Beta version, which will be available roughly two weeks prior to the official street date (single player careers started in the Beta can be carried across to the full game). The pre-release Beta will not be available on Stadia.

Football Manager 2020 (for PC, Mac and Stadia), Football Manager 2020 Touch (for PC, Mac, iOS and Android) and Football Manager 2020 Mobile (for iOS and Android) will all be released simultaneously (exact date TBC). Football Manager 2020 Touch for Nintendo Switch is also due for release later this year. **

*Pre-release Beta is available from SEGA approved digital retailers only; please check here for an exhaustive list of digital retailers and more details as to what constitutes a SEGA approved retailer.

**All dates are subject to change

 

 

[talhak]

Here it is!  Between could find FM20 on Steam yet. Any ideas about that? @JimmyWong

 

[Amarante]

no features news

[DP]

Great. Social media. 

[Big Geordie]

Not much to go on, so far. Here's hoping SI have managed to sort out FM19's ME issues.

[roykela]

Really hope the focus isn't social media. That would be a major disappointment for me.
Waiting for September now.

[GOODNAME]

Pre order before the new feature? this is quite sad.

[LeedsUnitedFan2]

Is this coming out on Windows Store with Xbox achievements again ? (And if so, will it be on Game Pass PC again?) I'd prefer to have a version with Xbox achievements than Steam.

[Mikke]

I guess I finally have to find some way to get 1803 update for Windows 10 installed, since this seems to be in the minimum requirements... Damn

[grade]

So this is the big announcement, that Miles announcement two weeks ago... that was a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, but to get announcement of an announcement of things we already know is a bit of disappointing and I was expecting more. Not even a proper date was announced. Next time will be what?, coming this fall!!!!!!! 

I’m sorry if I find this reply a bit arrogant, but i’m sick and tired of this pointless announcement that gives us nothing about the game. O don’t really expect something revolutionary or extraordinary, but gives us something more substantial. A simply we revamping press conferences is more entertaining than this.

Sorry for the long rant.

PS: I welcome the new release of FM20.

Edited August 27, 2019 by grade

[VMX]

Sorry but I don't quite get this announcement.

SI are asking us to preorder... what exactly?

Does this preorder only give you the Steam version, or does it also include the Stadia version? How can this not be mentioned anywhere?

And will we be able to continue saves from the Steam version on the Stadia version, and vice versa? How am I supposed to decide which version(s) to buy without knowing that key bit of information?

It's bad enough that they never list any new features or show any gameplay when launching preorders... but telling people to spend 49,50€ without even telling them which product they're buying?

They could and should do better than this.

[DazRTaylor]

Need the Icelandic league to be fixed and the clubs promoted when reloading on 24 June to be different each time for me to get excited.

[Guest]

No pre-order until new features or improved ones. I don't want to buy 19.3.6 Football Manager. Very bad adv and marketing. Let's see what FM20 will bring.

[themadsheep2001]

I'm not sure what people were expecting. 

First theres always the release date announcement 

Then over the next couple of months features and information get released and teased out 

Meanwhile the pre-order starts now and most importantly doesn't end until very close to the the actual release. Meaning you get to see all the release info, and get a sneak of those on the public beta before having to make any order or pre order. 

It's a really weird thing to be outraged about.

This is no different to last year or the year before. Some people pre order immediately, some simply wait and see. Some don't pre-order at all.

SI maximises pre orders and gamers have plenty of time to see what's coming before seeing if it's worth putting their money down. 

What would be an issue is if ore order bonuses stopped significantly before all information they were going to release came out 

[Spedding]

51 minutes ago, VMX said:

Sorry but I don't quite get this announcement.

SI are asking us to preorder... what exactly?

Does this preorder only give you the Steam version, or does it also include the Stadia version? How can this not be mentioned anywhere?

And will we be able to continue saves from the Steam version on the Stadia version, and vice versa? How am I supposed to decide which version(s) to buy without knowing that key bit of information?

It's bad enough that they never list any new features or show any gameplay when launching preorders... but telling people to spend 49,50€ without even telling them which product they're buying?

They could and should do better than this.

Yes it will be only on what platform you order it on as there different platforms.

Release date I'm guessing there waiting on Google as it's a launch title for stadia from what I can see all google has said stadia is out in November no date set so guessing google will have an announcement for the release date of stadia soon.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Spedding

[DODO]

I feel SI were rushed this year to do this announcement campaign with no new features yet to show us only to promote Google Stadia more than FM20 itself so that's a bit worrying sign for me (I really like Google Stadia btw. It'll be revolutionary).

Last year SI did pretty big changes on several modules of the game (especially tactics and training) but I still hope we'll get more than tweaks around the edges version of FM19.

[themadsheep2001]

2 minutes ago, DODO said:

I feel SI were rushed this year to do this announcement campaign with no new features yet to show us only to promote Google Stadia more than FM20 itself so that's a bit worrying sign for me (I really like Google Stadia btw. It'll be revolutionary).

Last year SI did pretty big changes on several modules of the game (especially tactics and training) but I still hope we'll get more than tweaks around the edges version of FM19.

They announce like this each year, around this time. Nothing has changed on that front . They had already announced it was coming to Stadia. All the news bits are still to come, as usual 

[HUNT3R]

I'm not a fan of the trailer at all. Keen to know what that tagline was about. It was the only thing that grabbed some attention.

Nothing unusual for a first announcement though. 

[themadsheep2001]

1 minute ago, HUNT3R said:

I'm not a fan of the trailer at all. Keen to know what that tagline was about. It was the only thing that grabbed some attention.

Nothing unusual for a first announcement though. 

I quite liked it. But then I have a general disdain for social media these days so liked the gentle dig. 

Though the classic ones will always be my favourites 

[HUNT3R]

1 minute ago, themadsheep2001 said:

I quite liked it.

I can definitely agree that it's a subjective thing. I liked the cliche cutscenes and B-grade almost comedic (struggling to find an accurate description for it) over acting of some of the previous ones. This one, for some reason, didn't pull me in at all.

The tagline did, which still makes it a bit of a success, I guess. Anything to pique some interest in something you already know and love.

I'll watch it again tomorrow and see if my opinion changes. Still looking forward to seeing more about the new release, of course. I'm hoping it's not too much social media and more about us having a say in some other way, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for more news.

[Ruh Roh]

I'm actually surprised they'd release a trailer with so many beeped out swear words, though I'd guess the player base is pretty old (relatively speaking, compared to idk Fornite and FIFA, or what the series's player base was 20 years ago).

If there's anything about going in an edgier direction, and I know it's supposed to be a big licensing problem, I hope they let the players misbehave more. Fights on the pitch! Crowding the ref. Dives, elbows, stuff going unseen, shithousery. Not showing up for training, going on strike, nastier "cliques" than we have today in dynamics.

Edited August 27, 2019 by Ruh Roh

[kingjericho]

1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:

Need the Icelandic league to be fixed and the clubs promoted when reloading on 24 June to be different each time for me to get excited.

This complaint can only make sense in the mind of a LLM-journeyman-youth-only fanatic  

 

Regarding the announcement... I never take it too much into consideration. Recent years show it makes sense, commercially, to focus on things that aren't really what's important for the die hard fans such as social media and better graphics, so I try not to get very happy/angry and just try it when it comes out.

Edited August 27, 2019 by kingjericho

[grade]

3 hours ago, themadsheep2001 said:

I'm not sure what people were expecting. 

First theres always the release date announcement 

Then over the next couple of months features and information get released and teased out 

Meanwhile the pre-order starts now and most importantly doesn't end until very close to the the actual release. Meaning you get to see all the release info, and get a sneak of those on the public beta before having to make any order or pre order. 

It's a really weird thing to be outraged about.

This is no different to last year or the year before. Some people pre order immediately, some simply wait and see. Some don't pre-order at all.

SI maximises pre orders and gamers have plenty of time to see what's coming before seeing if it's worth putting their money down. 

What would be an issue is if ore order bonuses stopped significantly before all information they were going to release came out 

I agree this is the current procedure of releasing information of the game. I’m not fan, but I was okay with it. But this year you get information about stadia and what you can do with FM, but that isn’t exactly news since the thread about stadia a lot of people expecting what was announced today. That is the all idea of it.

But what makes this year August announcement a waste of time you didn’t get a release date, but an estimate.

I feel (and you’re allowed to disagree) that each year these kind of announcements in August are getting poorer.  

[dnlwrd]

Looks like no Switch version this year, not sure I’m surprised considering I don’t think FMT19 on Switch got the latest update but still a shame.

[themadsheep2001]

19 minutes ago, grade said:

I agree this is the current procedure of releasing information of the game. I’m not fan, but I was okay with it. But this year you get information about stadia and what you can do with FM, but that isn’t exactly news since the thread about stadia a lot of people expecting what was announced today. That is the all idea of it.

But what makes this year August announcement a waste of time you didn’t get a release date, but an estimate.

I feel (and you’re allowed to disagree) that each year these kind of announcements in August are getting poorer.  

https://community.sigames.com/topic/443936-official-football-manager-2019-announcement/

https://community.sigames.com/topic/407026-football-manager-2018-announcement/

https://community.sigames.com/topic/377536-football-manager-2017-release-date-and-pre-purchase-details-announced/

They really haven't differed all that much at all. 17 and 18 didn't actually have videos embedded so the last two have arguably added more. The only think you haven't got is a nailed down date, but given that we know it's November as a release month isn't really an issue. Especially since we know SI tend to release things toward as the first two weeks of November 

SI always do a slow burn with these things. And given year on year they sell more and more, faster and faster, is clearly working.

I personally don't really start taking notice for another month or so, but then I'm probably not the target audience with the early announcements, since I'm always late to pre order, if I indeed do. 

[Welshace]

Excellent news.. always a good time of the year

[99]

As usual, I'll pre-order as soon as the new features are announced. Just a matter of principle.

[YUK0N]

Had my preorder all typed in ready to hit enter and I stopped. Something just didn't feel right. Think I'm gonna just hold out, I actually thought this mornings little video was a joke and dumb.  I am actually really worried where not gonna get what we were hoping for at all. I'm still hoping, but this year Im not throwing my money for 2 weeks of beta. I can wait.

 

[Neil Brock]

19 minutes ago, dnlwrd said:

Looks like no Switch version this year, not sure I’m surprised considering I don’t think FMT19 on Switch got the latest update but still a shame.

Literally says in the announcement:

”FootballManager 2020 Touch for Nintendo Switch will follow in late November.”

[themadsheep2001]

2 hours ago, HUNT3R said:

I can definitely agree that it's a subjective thing. I liked the cliche cutscenes and B-grade almost comedic (struggling to find an accurate description for it) over acting of some of the previous ones. This one, for some reason, didn't pull me in at all.

The tagline did, which still makes it a bit of a success, I guess. Anything to pique some interest in something you already know and love.

I'll watch it again tomorrow and see if my opinion changes. Still looking forward to seeing more about the new release, of course. I'm hoping it's not too much social media and more about us having a say in some other way, but I will definitely keep my eyes open for more news.

It didn't pull me in initially , but the tag line nailed it so I guess it did in the end, I really like the idea and the execution in the edit (Neil would love to know if the editor is an in house one or someone you've hired) but then cutting promos for work myself makes me nerdy like that. 

[Stevicus]

'Create the Future'

 

Is that a new thing? Hopefully it's some sort of nod to there being an overhauled youth system or something 

[Bullion22]

I hope that in the process of optimising for Google Stadia that work carries over to the retail version of the game so the game scales really well with CPUs with lots of cores.

[YUK0N]

 

At the end of the Video it says (EVERYONE's GOT AN OPINION) (DO SOMETHING WITH YOURS) (CREATE THE FUTURE) can anyone explain what exactly this means?

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by YUK0N

[alian62]

9 minutes ago, YUK0N said:

 

At the end of the Video it says (EVERYONE's GOT AN OPINION) (DO SOMETHING WITH YOURS) (CREATE THE FUTURE) can anyone explain what exactly this means?

 

Yes was thinking the same thing . It must be a new kind of feature . Guessing you can have some sort of opinion that influence the club in some way . Maybe things happening in the club and they ask for your opinion . Just hope its not like the press interviews where you can only give certain answers ? 

[masno]

7 horas atrás, grade disse:

So this is the big announcement, that Miles announcement two weeks ago... that was a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, but to get announcement of an announcement of things we already know is a bit of disappointing and I was expecting more. Not even a proper date was announced. Next time will be what?, coming this fall!!!!!!! 

I’m sorry if I find this reply a bit arrogant, but i’m sick and tired of this pointless announcement that gives us nothing about the game. O don’t really expect something revolutionary or extraordinary, but gives us something more substantial. A simply we revamping press conferences is more entertaining than this.

Sorry for the long rant.

PS: I welcome the new release of FM20.

I second this. Can't understand the pre-announcement of the announcement to finally announce a 1 min video and say nothing about the game. I expected exactly this type of trailer + revealed date, but not even the last part was true.
SI should at least give us something like "now with media/ fans overhauled"(doing my bet after this trailer) without getting in details before mid september just to justify the pre-order, because you ask people their money before showing literally any change, any small bit of information about the game is kinda lame. Obviously, no one need to buy it before they show, but is a way to show some respect to people that buy this game every year to at least they them what they are about to pre-order. I feel happy for finally having it announced, but gutted for not having a date neither a simple phrase of a single new thing that will say to me "go and buy it, it is new and you will like it!". But yeah,lets hope for the best.

[ben carter]

If this is hinting at a revamp of the social media as a big focus then I'm pretty zoned out. I set every new game to skip the social media page, does absolutely nothing for me.

Granted if it's your bag then great but there are other areas that are much bigger deal breakers for me.

[YUK0N]

Quote

If this is hinting at a revamp of the social media as a big focus then I'm pretty zoned out. I set every new game to skip the social media page, does absolutely nothing for me.

Granted if it's your bag then great but there are other areas that are much bigger deal breakers for me.

I could not agree more. If this is some kind of in game Twitter upgrade many will not be impressed. Twitter on its own is a crap show. Why have it anymore then we do already in a soccer game while not fixing the things we've been asking for over and over again. This alone literally stopped my preorder and unless I hear anything news about considerable updates I may just stay with 2019. Still happy with my 12 season campaign. Its not worth the purchase if they ask us what we want and then do something like this. Yes I'm getting ahead of myself and I'm still holding out for the better but that video this morning was just plain depressing.

[decapitated]

I preordered it. I doubt we can read too much into the trailer in terms of the features of the game though.

[WilltheWolf92]

Can't wait! Wonder about the new developments

[dnlwrd]

8 hours ago, Neil Brock said:

Literally says in the announcement:

”FootballManager 2020 Touch for Nintendo Switch will follow in late November.”

Cool, thanks, completely missed that.

Not sure the sass of a “literally” was needed but cool anyway.

[ncamb]

I just hope we'll finally have a playable online game

[Hovis Dexter]

15 hours ago, roykela said:

Really hope the focus isn't social media. That would be a major disappointment for me.
Waiting for September now.

Totally agree. I always switch it off in the game and have nothing to do with social media (unless this site counts) IRL. I need much more information before I decide to buy FM20 let alone pre-order the game. 

[HUNT3R]

4 hours ago, ben carter said:

If this is hinting at a revamp of the social media as a big focus then I'm pretty zoned out. I set every new game to skip the social media page, does absolutely nothing for me.

Granted if it's your bag then great but there are other areas that are much bigger deal breakers for me.

 

4 hours ago, YUK0N said:

I could not agree more. If this is some kind of in game Twitter upgrade many will not be impressed. Twitter on its own is a crap show. Why have it anymore then we do already in a soccer game while not fixing the things we've been asking for over and over again. This alone literally stopped my preorder and unless I hear anything news about considerable updates I may just stay with 2019. Still happy with my 12 season campaign. Its not worth the purchase if they ask us what we want and then do something like this. Yes I'm getting ahead of myself and I'm still holding out for the better but that video this morning was just plain depressing.

The feeling I got from watching the trailer (also taking the tag line into account) is that every armchair fan has an opinion and think they know better. FM is the chance to put those opinions to the test, basically.

We are creating the future already, in every FM, but I'm hoping there's a reason they chose the wording for this edition specifically. 

[Hovis Dexter]

I think the advert was pretty insulting to the target audience ... us. To my mind, it suggested that we are all a bunch of loud mouthed morons who can't express ourselves without swearing.

[Mons]

2 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I think the advert was pretty insulting to the target audience ... us. To my mind, it suggested that we are all a bunch of loud mouthed morons who can't express ourselves without swearing.

Easily offended much?

[XaW]

2 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I think the advert was pretty insulting to the target audience ... us. To my mind, it suggested that we are all a bunch of loud mouthed morons who can't express ourselves without swearing.

Reading this forum the last few years, and I'm inclined to think they are correct.

[HUNT3R]

56 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I think the advert was pretty insulting to the target audience ... us. To my mind, it suggested that we are all a bunch of loud mouthed morons who can't express ourselves without swearing.

Remember, this is a trailer less than 1 min long. It's trying to show the passion of fans and the opinions on what they'd do about whatever is wrong at their club. If this was a guy in a suit sitting in a library calmly saying, "well, in my opinion, I think we need a new formation because we can't deal with the balls over the top because there's no pressure in midfield" it's not going to build excitement (in general!) for the new version. Trailers are supposed to be action packed to create hype. I wouldn't read too much into it in terms of it being insulting or assuming what we are or aren't. 

[Kingstontom88]

Intrigued to see what new features will be in place.

Eventually, SI will surely hit something of a brick wall when it comes to adding in new features - it will become a case of 'so what haven't we included?', especially when you factor in manager involvement in contract negotiations already (which by and large isn't very common these days).

Liked the training this year and the tactical changes; it was a very good game - the ME has still given me frustration though so I hope there will be some tweaks there. For me, if they continue to fine-tune the ME with animations and realistic play/tactical implementations they can keep taking my money each year.

[rabm]

Does anyone know if there will be a "closed Beta" this year and if so how to sign up for it? I was on a closed beta group for FM 2015 and while frustrating at times, due to it obviously being a beta, it was great to help test it out. Would love to be involved again. 

[CAGSEN]

When will be announced the system requirements?