Football Manager: Representation, AI, NFTs, and blending to real-world with the virtual world

Football Manager is one of my guiltiest pleasures. From taking Luton Town and Borussia Monchengladbach to European glory to establishing Atlanta United as a behemoth in North America, I’ve amassed many achievements I’m proud of—and I’m not alone. 

For the last three decades, Football Manager has occupied a unique space in gaming and football. It’s a virtual product where players can live out their managerial fantasies, all while the franchise makes a significant impression in the sport itself. Few games are as impactful as Football Manager, which offers a blend of the real world and virtual world in a way that teaches important lessons to everyone—including delicate topics others may be afraid to touch.

There’s no bigger example than the eye-opening addition to Football Manager 2018 that allowed regenerated players to come out as gay. While other studios might’ve made a big fanfare about the addition, Sports Interactive handled it differently: complete silence until gamers themselves encountered the feature.

“It was very deliberate that we didn’t announce it. We wanted people to discover it in game,” Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson told Dot Esports, “It’s because we did it for the right reasons and not for the wrong ones. We didn’t do it for publicity, we did it because it’s something that should be natural.”

Football Manager’s reaction to players coming out took inspiration from the real-world effects in other sports, shaping the in-game response to feel natural. 

“Exactly what happens inside Football Manager is what happens [in other sports]—a small merchandise boost, then it doesn’t get mentioned again because, frankly, it’s not anyone else’s business,” Jacobson said.

“I think that’s why it worked so well because it’s so natural and normal. We are incredibly proud as a studio that we are able to use our voice for that kind of good.” 

This is exactly what should happen whenever someone shares how they feel, whether in the sporting world or otherwise. In women’s football coming out is much more accepted and barely results in a stir, a stance replicated in Football Manager 25—where women’s football makes a long-awaited debut.

Players coming out remains a feature in Football Manager 25 and is “possible on both sides,” but, like in the real world, “it’s way less of a big deal” in the women’s game and, as a result, Jacobson says it’s rare to see merchandise boosts in women’s football when someone comes out.

While players divulging their sexualities in your Football Manager save is something you’ll rarely see, other real-world situations in previous years have played out in-game, including Brexit and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This year, however, don’t expect any major controversies, including anything related to Manchester City’s ongoing legal battle with the Premier League. 

This year, though, Jacobson says there won’t be any “major controversies” covered in Football Manager 25. As for Manchester City’s court case, there are two reasons it’s excluded: it’s not known “when it’s going to end” and “it’s a legal situation.”

In the 30 years of Football Manager, Sports Interactive has traversed the ever-evolving gaming world by showing impressive resilience. These days, Football Manager is at your fingertips whether you’re on PC or mobile, console or a streaming platform, all of which is due to the team’s dedication to change with the times.

Football Manager adopts an “adapt or die” attitude, focusing on a “long-term plan” rather than only paying attention to the next iteration. 

This approach has taken the player base “from two million to 14 million,” largely because of the decision to embrace streaming platforms—a plan that first formed together eight years ago. This long-term approach is clearly a true driving force behind the development of Football Manager. There are plans in place for ideas in the future when the timing is right, and Sports Interactive is always “thinking about the bigger picture and being agile.”

That begs the question: How does Sports Interactive decide when to jump on board a trend with Football Manager? Will something like NFTs be considered? As it turns out, those discussions have already happened. 

“There are some things we looked at from an NFT perspective, like can people own their newgens when they are coming through?” Jacobson revealed, “But we sat back a little bit and said ‘it’s taken us 30 years to build up our reputation, would we want to lose it in 30 seconds by announcing NFTs?

“When there’s a time when NFTs are more useful, if someone can prove them out as a model as being useful in our sector, we might look at them again, but until we’ve got a good case for them, we won’t.”

Another sensitive topic in modern gaming, and the world in general, is the advancement and application of AI, and the technology will feature in Football Manager 25. This isn’t a huge secret, though, nor is it anything new: AI has been a part of Football Manager throughout its lifespan, particularly the match engine. 

In Football Manager 25, AI is being used in a new way, which Jacobson could not reveal yet, but it’s an application “that didn’t lose anyone their job” and one that will “make the game a lot more accessible to a lot of people in the world.”

Sports Interactive’s adaptability and willingness to try different approaches are among the biggest lures of the game, playing a big part in the franchise’s close ties with football. Football’s relationship with Football Manager is “not a dirty secret,” with teams using the game’s data as part of their scouting network. Meanwhile, Sports Interactive is inside clubs’ training grounds, listening to team meetings and feeding that back into the systems inside the game.

However, it isn’t a case of taking from each other; Jacobson believes they work “in a symbiotic way.” Conversations regularly occur with football figures about how things could be, some of which make their way into development, while others don’t. 

Clearly, Football Manager is here to stay. I’m more excited than ever to get my hands on Football Manager 25 and see what the next decade holds for this beloved franchise—and I’m already mapping out plans for my next virtual challenge.