Football Manager 2021 - New Headline Features

[DMaster2]

I hope that at least they will present the game with a pre-game editor that isn't broken. Had to give up building a custom Champions League this year because the freaking editor won't allow me to make preliminaries without bugging and letting teams eliminated enter the next stage.

[Tiger666]

I hope there's been some serious work to the match engine because most of the stuff in that video will get sent to the assistant manager/ignored as it will get redundant and repetitive fast.

[stevemc]

Presumably that’s not all the features for FM21 and there are more next week, fingers crossed that International management has had some treatment as that is one of the most lifeless and stale parts of the game for me.

[JordanMilly]

2 hours ago, CM said:

And one thing captured my attention is German Super Cup was on 16th of September. At least fixtures have probably been adapted to reflect Covid in the game?

Good spot, I hadn't noticed that.

1 hour ago, Novem9 said:

Do I understood it correct, that I can no spent my time for manual searching, just say 'I want creative CM' for example and scouts share me a list of players some time later?

No, from what Spence said you can still do that no problem, it's just that you can get better feedback from the board and coaches on where they believe the team needs to be strengthened, and give the scouts particular types of players to be looking at, all on one screen at the beginning of a transfer window. I like that, better than having to jump between several screens to do the same thing.

[cherryman71]

4 hours ago, XaW said:

They said a new animation system, player models and lightning at around the 2:50 mark... 

Yes, they say this every year without fail, and I never notice very much difference

[roykela]

Waiting to hear about more stuff. This video did not get my excitement up.
Just posting my spontaneous first impressions here. The actual experience may or may not be very different.

- Interaction.
Looks more cumbersome and annoying. Gives me a reason to finally have my assistant do all of that.
Outstretched arms, point finger etc. Nope. No thanks. Don't care.

- Matchday.
Post match. How the media reacted and how the fans have reacted. Don't care. For me; the less there is with social media stuff in this game the better.
I will most likely ignore it completely.
Data analysis and xG spark my interest a little though. Although my analsys is by watching the matches. I will go by my own visual xG.

- Recruitment
Looks interesting. Might very well be something i will like.

- End of season.
Celebrations on the pitch. That's what's on my screen when i go to the toilet after winning something. If i don't go to the toilet it'll be quickly bypassed. Couldn't care less.
Updated end of season highlights. That's good,

Not too excited after watching the first batch revealed. 
Looking forward to October 19th. Hoping that will get me more excited.

[h3nrique_SEP]

the DEMO will be available at the same time than the BETA or just when the full game release?

[kandersson]

xG stats and new recruitment screen (hopefully replaces the chaotic scouting centre) look interesting. The rest... not so much. Fairly underwhelming headline features imho, hopefully next updates will be more exciting.

[Tony Wright 747]

2 hours ago, Exius said:

Feeling disappointed... It seems, I'll skip this one like I skipped FM 2020. I hope the day will come when they announce a massively improved ME as a major headline feature, not these minor things nobody cares about. Every year I see a lot of cool ideas in feature suggestion threads and it seems that they choose the least interesting and important ones.

PS Can someone explain me, how does it happen that even in FM 2021 the pitch looks worse than in a 10-year old (!) FM 2011? Is this something so difficult to fix?

 

It's not just the pitch look at the lighting and even the crowd

[Mars_Blackmon]

37 minutes ago, roykela said:

Waiting to hear about more stuff. This video did not get my excitement up.
Just posting my spontaneous first impressions here. The actual experience may or may not be very different.

- Interaction.
Looks more cumbersome and annoying. Gives me a reason to finally have my assistant do all of that.
Outstretched arms, point finger etc. Nope. No thanks. Don't care.

- Matchday.
Post match. How the media reacted and how the fans have reacted. Don't care. For me; the less there is with social media stuff in this game the better.
I will most likely ignore it completely.
Data analysis and xG spark my interest a little though. Although my analsys is by watching the matches. I will go by my own visual xG.

- Recruitment
Looks interesting. Might very well be something i will like.

- End of season.
Celebrations on the pitch. That's what's on my screen when i go to the toilet after winning something. If i don't go to the toilet it'll be quickly bypassed. Couldn't care less.
Updated end of season highlights. That's good,

Not too excited after watching the first batch revealed. 
Looking forward to October 19th. Hoping that will get me more excited.

In other words you'll be happy with spreadsheet?

[noikeee]

People always seem to mistake graphics for the match engine.  They're two different things. Though I agree graphics also need a serious boost. 

[roykela]

20 minutes ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

In other words you'll be happy with spreadsheet?

I don't know if i'm happy with spreadsheet or not. I have to try the spreadsheet first.

[qwerty22]

Nice fluff features but if the Match engine isn't improved then it'll be another missed opportunity.

Don't get fooled by the "1 million people playing FM" tweets, It has a monopoly over the genre so people don't have another option to scratch the football management itch, Specially in lockdown. The actual match still plays horribly and is at a laughable state.

Set piece goals (deep free kick/corner ping pong) galore, Identical goals from all leagues, No player/team individuality, One on ones missed and boring action.

Inject more energy in the actual match, let it be sufficient to watch it on 2d and make conclusions instead of adding more stats that just doesn't tell the truth (Shots on target/Clear cut chances).

Not very optimistic though.

Edited October 16, 2020 by qwerty22

[99]

I'm a bit conflicted here.

This is the year that I would never want to make any kind of criticism. God knows how much CoVid affected SI's normal business, the daily schedule, everyone's families and etc.

On the other hand --- and for that same reason! --- it becomes even more painful to see that the devs probably spent a sh*tload of time working on features that are imo useless, worse, detriment of the whole experience (please don't tell me I have to choose if I open my arms or if I point a finger before each press conference answer). In a complex game like FM, every small thing probably needs a lot of work, so to imagine, this year, the devs spending hours and hours and hours on things like these... like I said, it's painful to imagine.

I'm still undecided, but more inclined to not buy this year's edition. I'll probably try the demo later.

P.S. That printscreen comparing FM2011 and FM21... it's something.

Edited October 16, 2020 by 99

[Rullom]

You know its bad, when users with plenty of post on this forum is mostly writing negative comments.

The real question is, can anyone actually do anything about current issues with FM? No not really, SI would need a new engine. The current engine is made for 2D, it wont get much better then this. Players are round discs sliding on a flat surface, and made to life with layered graphical animations for 3D. Now don't get me wrong, that is impressive, but also very confusing. They got +200k lines of animation coding, for a 2D based ME. Why?

I'm bamboozled about people even having second thoughts anymore. You scream about bad changes, but that is not really the biggest problem. It is how SI bamboozled most of their player base, to keep buying reskins and with consistent UI modifications, with absolutely no changes, and calling it "new features." They have done that for a decade now. 

How is that possible folk?

There are changes, but they are smaller then what indie developers make in free updates 4 times a year. Also complete irrelevant for most of us. The best thing about FM, is the story we (us as players) make. Not what repetitive media interactions or conversations with players doing absolutely nothing is. Some might find it "realistic." Quite on the contrary. would I call unique situations realistic. There nothing unique, or new about 3 pixel animation body language, or the same cookie cutter answer in a new box. That is not real, that is  literally speaking only to a 5 year old ... funny enough, possibly playing a cookie cutter game.

This is insane, and pretty close to complete pathetic to buy. And yeah sure, more "features" from, a well spoken content creator, a flashy twitter post, will try to showcase (something new.) This game have not been up to date with rest of the gaming industry since 2003. I could argue Cycling manager 2005, got a better engine then us. And this game, is gonna cost 40€. 

Covid or no Covid, is this getting more and more pathetic each year. Is this even an upgrade? With all that media and conversation madness, does it feel like they want to pull something down my throat that I absolut don't want to play with. Instead, are they missing out on like minded, sitting out for years at a time, waiting for the ME instead of buying a game with facelifts. Since that is what we want, at least the majority do, a new ME that is build for 3D. 

Imagine, a small group could upload a json file with minor changes, that got downloaded +100k times in under a week, and made people come back to play, or even buy FM20 just to experience slight physical changes to the ME. How about that?

Edited October 16, 2020 by Rullom

[destmez]

8 hours ago, akm.91 said:

Looks like the same generic, robotic movements. Stadiums still look they’ve been designed by someone that’s never actually visited a stadium. Looking forward to my large corner tv screen and picnic benches down in the lower leagues  again this year 🤦🏻‍♂️

they have to look on this topic 

And rewanp génération of stadiums

And i also think the community need to find modders , like @Durandil67 on twitter

Edited October 16, 2020 by destmez

[Juego de Posicion]

Haven’t seen anything that interests me yet.

Waiting to see if there’s any upgrades to tactics and tactical options, particularly defensively. If not, I’ll skip FM21 and wait for FM22. That’s the most important part of the game for me.

[Rashidi]

The 2nd feature was really interesting. I for one have been complaining about the mundanity of press interactions,  This has been one aspect of the game that’s hardly moved forward and I for one am looking forward to the new interactions.

There are plenty of nice touches and I was actually happy to see the new match day screen, there could be a quality of life change with one small addition that I spotted. 
 

Other than that for immersion value the streamlined scouting meetings are definitely a step up from the Scouting Centre Reports  This could be a major fail for me if the recommendations aren’t in line with club vision. Or, if scouting recommendations don’t take into account our financial position. 

[Sterling]

I'm a little conflicted as well on this one, normally I pre-order no questions, I generally want to keep supporting development, but this years features (which I realise have been covid affected) are a little disappointing considering we are being asked for full price again.

Last years poor 3D match engine performance at release was also a kick in the teeth that I haven't forgotten.

I'm starting to feel a little taken advantage of.

 

[isignedupfornorealreason]

5 hours ago, Exius said:

Feeling disappointed... It seems, I'll skip this one like I skipped FM 2020. I hope the day will come when they announce a massively improved ME as a major headline feature, not these minor things nobody cares about. Every year I see a lot of cool ideas in feature suggestion threads and it seems that they choose the least interesting and important ones.

PS Can someone explain me, how does it happen that even in FM 2021 the pitch looks worse than in a 10-year old (!) FM 2011? Is this something so difficult to fix?

 

Pitch on the right looks like 3G/rolled carpet.

[destmez]

42 minutes ago, isignedupfornorealreason said:

Pitch on the right looks like 3G/rolled carpet.

Look like cartoon on 21 , they should give us the choices on textures pack Like Minecraft did 👍

[DementedHammer]

Until the game is in my hands, I'll be sitting on the fence and I won't be making any definite judgements about its playability.

However, one thing that I'm slightly concerned about is that gestures have different meanings in different cultures, so it will be interesting how that feature is implemented. It could potentially open an unexpected can of worms. 

[alian62]

So the full screen feature on the 3D match day isn't a new feature . Its just a return to the FM17 and previous games . Again touting new features from ones they have removed previously , But its a welcomed return and im sure new features to that screen will be added . Wasnt going to buy this next game but those ###tards keep pushing my buttons  .  Disappointed with the playing surfaces again looking like a plastic carpet than a playing grass field . I am hoping for better stadiums especially the smaller ones which hold only 500 or 1000 spectators . The Audio also needs a shakeup as its the same as it was in years ago with no improvements over the years . and of course the Match Engine is always a ongoing issue and i cant say anymore on that for fear of being blocked but it has become well known on other forums so i will leave that alone . The other issue i have is the chatting to players etc . Its very limited and still with new ones added it becomes mundane after a while saying or choosing the same options to tell a player . But FM21 was always going to be tough with Covid-19 . Also the A-League has announced a new schedule that now runs from December to June so i hope that gets in the game  

[alian62]

52 minutes ago, isignedupfornorealreason said:

Pitch on the right looks like 3G/rolled carpet.

Yeah if it wasnt for Mods i wouldnt play this game . Looks like carpet and its just lazy all round . Its not difficult to fix at all as many Mods have done it . SI have always said its about Managing the game rather than a 3D extravaganza but the time has come to start putting more into the 3D Presentation , Audio , Stadiums , etc

Edited October 16, 2020 by alian62

[Viking]

Seems like your staff will give you more and better advice on tactics this year. I like that.

[destmez]

they didnt fix this ( i hope they will fix it one day) , the number of tunnel is totaly unreal bro 😂

[isignedupfornorealreason]

7 minutes ago, DementedHammer said:

Until the game is in my hands, I'll be sitting on the fence and I won't be making any definite judgements about its playability.

However, one thing that I'm slightly concerned about is that gestures have different meanings in different cultures, so it will be interesting how that feature is implemented. It could potentially open an unexpected can of worms. 

Can't wait to give my Brazilian wonderkid the Ok symbol when he scores. >_>

[Novem9]

6 часов назад, JordanMillward_1 сказал:

No, from what Spence said you can still do that no problem, it's just that you can get better feedback from the board and coaches on where they believe the team needs to be strengthened, and give the scouts particular types of players to be looking at, all on one screen at the beginning of a transfer window. I like that, better than having to jump between several screens to do the same thing.

Probably I say something wrong and you don't understand me. This new feature looks like one from I asked before. I play journeyman saves and when I move in new club sometimes I need a quick transfers, first season especially. So this will be very useful for me if it will be working correctly. Current DoF let me some strange options for transfers

 

P.s. I don't have a push about your answer/quote me. Do I need to inform about bug?

Edited October 16, 2020 by Novem9

[Novem9]

End of season.

I have a crazy season in fm20, my AZ has 93 points , Ajax 92 and 3th team just ~75. Season of drama, season if moments. I beat a lot of teams 3-0, 4-0, 5-0.

Ajax beat me 5-0 in 33 match day and win 7-0 his last game of season because if I lose points in 34 matchday , Ajax will be champion by better goal difference. I scored just one goal in second half and won league. 

Season results. Best game (or key game, something like this) - some draw 3-3 between two middle teams without any success. I won league for AZ first time for 15 years and 3th time in history, I have absolutely record for club points in league. Okay this is good achievement for 3th place in nomination of best manager.

I really interested new end of season will be improved in logics or it's the same in new decoration

[Zemahh]

5 hours ago, 99 said:

(please don't tell me I have to choose if I open my arms or if I point a finger before each press conference answer)

Pretty sure the gestures just replaced the old Cautious, Calm, Assertive and Aggressive buttons. Hopefully it isn't just a reskin and they did some work on player interactions and team talks in general, but it should end up in the same amount of clicks as currently.

[sedge11]

7 hours ago, stevemc said:

fingers crossed that International management has had some treatment as that is one of the most lifeless and stale parts of the game for me.

Bit like real life then with internationals being dead and lifeless. 
All joking aside, agree international management does need changes, I’ve avoided international management for years because of it.

[Ninza]

Are Regen faces the same as FM 20?

[yolixeya]

I really like the new animations, looks better.

End of the season scouting meetings is a good addition. I always thought the staff, the manager and the board have more interactions and are all working toghether to improve the squad. This is probably a step in the right direction.

Not too exited about the new interactions. Hope they don't complicate things too much.

And I really hope xG will stop the endless user posts on forums about how they "dominated"but still lost the match.

[bielsadidnothingwrong]

11 hours ago, noikeee said:

And it's too cartoonish with unlockables and all that crap. Having to unlock stuff for being able to manage internationally? Being coerced to try to buy addons to cheat on every other screen? It feels like you're not playing a "proper" game. 

This is so true. The microtransactions make the game feel so childish. "Magic sponge" makes me cringe every time I read it.

[Novem9]

31 минуту назад, sedge11 сказал:

Bit like real life then with internationals being dead and lifeless. 
All joking aside, agree international management does need changes, I’ve avoided international management for years because of it.

The same for corners/freekicks. This system is so old and unfriendly so I just use default. Have no idea why it linked for positions. Its need link for player many years ago. Also for players in box area who waiting for passing. Its working by height / jumping / heading, not a positions

[Pasonen]

1 minute ago, Novem9 said:

Also for players in box area who waiting for passing. Its working by height / jumping / heading, not a positions

This is something I'm waiting to get fixed. "Hopely I can help in that". It might also be partly animation thing.

[Karnack]

Are CCCs gone forever now? If so thats all I need to pre-order! 

[Zemahh]

50 minutes ago, Ninza said:

Are Regen faces the same as FM 20?

You can see two of them here:

Also, judging by the Fitness icons on the bottom right, it seems like the percentage numbers are indeed hidden (icons acting like progress bars). The only question is whether you will see the numbers after hoovering over them or not.

[DementedHammer]

49 minutes ago, bielsadidnothingwrong said:

This is so true. The microtransactions make the game feel so childish. "Magic sponge" makes me cringe every time I read it.

The one that I always end up paying extra for is to unlock the ability to mask attributes. That's so integral to the game that it does feel a bit wrong having to pay extra for it to use it from day one. 

[Samurai Cake]

Nice to see that after 31 years of champ man/football manager that the main feature of this management sim is that focus is 'finally,' on the manager...............

Not really sure stagnation covers it at this point. Meh, I'll probably still get it, still lots of new features that aren't really new here. 

[Icy]

hace 3 minutos, DementedHammer dijo:

The one that I always end up paying extra for is to unlock the ability to mask attributes. That's so integral to the game that it does feel a bit wrong having to pay extra for it to use it from day one. 

Just load a single nation like Spain, chose a top team like Real Madrid or Barcelona, holidays for a whole season and you will unlock it for free as the requirement is related to having a top player or something that I can't remember right now but that it's easy with a top team just holidaying.

[DementedHammer]

29 minutes ago, Zemahh said:

You can see two of them here:

Also, judging by the Fitness icons on the bottom right, it seems like the percentage numbers are indeed hidden (icons acting like progress bars). The only question is whether you will see the numbers after hoovering over them or not.

Those icons are growing on me. Now to figure out at what point I should start to think about subbing my players based on the status of the icon. 

[DementedHammer]

2 minutes ago, Icy said:

Just load a single nation like Spain, chose a top team like Real Madrid or Barcelona, holidays for a whole season and you will unlock it for free as the requirement is related to having a top player or something that I can't remember right now but that it's easy with a top team just holidaying.

Thanks. I will give that a try. As I normally play lower league I've never unlocked it before. Also, I never actually checked the requirements. 

Edited October 16, 2020 by DementedHammer

[Icy]

hace 1 minuto, DementedHammer dijo:

Thanks. I will give that a try. As I normally play lower league I've never unlocked it before. 

Me too, but I just do that, go for a coffee and have it unlocked along with other unlockables related to it's performance as well.

Stupid that we need to go through that and also is the part that I don't like from the FM Touch interface, as there are mentions about unlockables in several screens, like when you have an injured player and you see there the "use magic sponge" or something like that, that breaks the immersion for me.

I don't know how much is SI earning from these, but if it's not substantial I would remove them at least from the PC version as these micropayments are more usual in mobile games.

[Lempicka]

Not really sure where to begin with the match day experience. I won't bang on about how disappointed I am with the lack of stadium improvements, but I'm struggling to decide what looks more unrealistic - the pitch or those fireworks. Throw in the the replica shirt overkill from the crowd and your left with that looks like, at best - as earlier version of the Sims.

I'm not after whistles and bells, just an authentic representation of the match day experience. Comparing the FM21 screen grab with one from FM14 - I know which one I prefer.

 

[ferrarinseb]

12 minutes ago, Lempicka said:

Not really sure where to begin with the match day experience. I won't bang on about how disappointed I am with the lack of stadium improvements, but I'm struggling to decide what looks more unrealistic - the pitch or those fireworks. Throw in the the replica shirt overkill from the crowd and your left with that looks like, at best - as earlier version of the Sims.

I'm not after whistles and bells, just an authentic representation of the match day experience. Comparing the FM21 screen grab with one from FM14 - I know which one I prefer.

 

If you show this two images then every one will think the bottom one is recent one. I really don't know why the pitches are changed that every one almost like turf of plastic covered by grass. 

[Novem9]

6 минут назад, ferrarinseb сказал:

I really don't know why the pitches are changed that every one almost like turf of plastic covered by grass. 

little by little preparing us for purple field  I have no idea too, seriously. I tried to pay attention before and some members tried to convince me I'm wrong 

[Kingstontom88]

First of a few feature announcements, so I'm not going to get too excited or too downhearted just yet. That being said, if these are 'headline features' then I think we are seeing the consequence of Covid's impact on SI game development because these don't look headline-worthy to me.

The new interaction stuff is essentially a rehash - body language rather than tone - fine if you enjoy that kind of thing; I find it quite tedious in parts and leave all PCs to my Assistant Manager. Player interaction though I think is fairly interesting, but I hope we don't discover that 'open arm' responses every time proves 90% successful or something...I think quick informal chats is a good addition though, a helpful way to try and turn some morale in the right direction - this is realistic in any case as managers and players chat all the time.

Again, tactical insight looks somewhat rehashed based on the screenshots, but some more one-line feedback from backroom staff is helpful for those who don't want to delve too deep into the data provided (like me).

Intrigued to see what the improvements are to the ME based on that short piece on 'graphic improvements to models and animations' - didn't see anything groundbreaking in those short highlights but it's still in early build I'm sure. Graphically it does look poor compared to older versions. I know the game engine has changed but the pitch really does look poor compared to years previous.

Post-match stuff - is this really a new feature? It's just moved the social media/news media reactions right to the end of the game - xG is interesting insight but will have to see how helpful it proves to be.

Recruitment - looks like a more polished version of what was in FM20 with some more options, which is good news. I like this aspect of the game so look forward to seeing more.

Season review - not something I'll be paying attention to, and in previous versions I feel the game erroneously chooses best and worst moments. This is a polished version of what we already have with some additional clicks - there is already an end-of-season item in the inbox which highlights fans favourite player, top scorer.etc - is it just going to be this in a more graphically presented form?

Overall it's OK but the nagging feeling I have is how many more new features can SI add in to future games? We're seeing more tweaks than additions and I know the circumstances surrounding the mess that is year 2020 has been a contributing factor, but there must come a point where FM hits a wall for ideas! I hope not.

For me, the FM2020 ME was so poor and I just couldn't get into the game at all. If there are some videos of game footage with the SI team playing like last year I look forward to watching that to see what differences we encounter - if this improves and it's just minor updates to other areas then a happy man I'll be.

Look forward to seeing more updates.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Kingstontom88

[FlorianAlbert9]

8 minuti fa, Kingstontom88 ha scritto:

 Overall it's OK but the nagging feeling I have is how many more new features can SI add in to future games? We're seeing more tweaks than additions and I know the circumstances surrounding the mess that is year 2020 has been a contributing factor, but there must come a point where FM hits a wall for ideas! I hope not.

There are a lot of better potential headline features. 

 

At this rate the question "how many more features can SI add in ti future games?" will make sense in 50 years

[saihtam]

12 hours ago, noikeee said:

SI can't win. They need to add new things to be able to sell the game otherwise people will say, "this has nothing new, I won't buy it". And it has to be *visible* things, no matter how much we want a more intelligent ME or squad building AI, you can't show those things in feature videos, they aren't easily tangible. 

On the other hand when people start playing for more than a little while.. I don't think it's a minority or a fringe view that there's just way too many things in the game now. People want different things when they go to buy the game (exciting visible things!), to when they're actually playing it after a decent amount of time to get used to the game (they want to have fun, whatever "fun" is)

There must be something fundamentaly wrong with SI strucutre.  Is it their research, unwillingles to make a change, or pure desire to milk money... Ofcourse visible changes are the first things that most players will notice, but not be emphasy in a simulation game. Crusader kings2 started in 2012 for example and until 2018 they made DLC that changed the core gameplay that people loved. There is nothing wrong in focusing under the hood and having that as improved features. You still could give in some UI updates, just even one of them that where shown this video.

Wanted to point something about the interaction that SI can never fully do. As we have real players and clubs they cant bring in variablity that could make media and player interaction more fun, exiting and game changing. It could bring so much to the table but and have real meaning for all these interactions, but real life legal offense could happpen unfortunatly. Just think if they could unleash more interaction between clubs, that start hating or blocking each other, clubs who will have better relationship and share better deals. Players who have life events happening or some personality things that flip them either directions. Dense talks behind the scene with player agents etc. It happens in real life and something that must be dealt with, but we will never see it that fully integrated.

Talking about visual quality. Cant they see that their 3d view is plastic and bad. How can they belive adding small feature like confety while winning something is people wish? There so much things they could improve and designe more variety in stadiums.

I see points made here to defend SI as they are trying and this year has been hard on everyone. Many things people point out is without diehard proof, but we all stil see the evolution of FM has been going downhill. This thing has been going on for YEARS and how such core feature like 3d view and stadiums can stay in so low graphical fidelity. Not adding more stadiums in is the most paffling thing for me, it is not attached to ME, it is visual and make variate there could be easily done. Have interns, buy in some desingers for some time, let fans give input with some mod support etc.
In the end we will end up the fact they want to support 12 years old CPU/GPUs, if they make add more lines and complexity, update and more animation to ME, something must give, because it is not feasible to build on something so low requirments.

Also we have to remind that evey year they sell record amount. FM 19 sold over two million copies and FM20 broke that record as I remember. Dont forget that this is game is released every year. There are so many great games that have hard to achive 2mil copies mark. + SI have deals with MS and Epic that definetly gave more steady money flow even if they gave out game for free.
They are not small company and should be pushing some standards higher.