Before the Tokyo Game Show 2026, we had the chance to speak with Football Manager 26 Director Miles Jacobson, who outlined a next-generation reboot that balances deeper simulation, wider accessibility, expanded women’s football support, and a rebuilt engine and UI designed to set the series up for the next 20 years.

Football Manager 26 Interview

Accessibility and onboarding

Jacobson says improving first‑time player retention for Football Manager 26 was critical after analytics showed many newcomers quit within an hour while long‑term players stayed far longer. He explains that the studio created dedicated accessibility and tutorial teams and built a user-friendly interface with layered detail for deeper exploration.

He highlights Fampedia as a core new tool that is “not just for navigation; it’s also for players who may
not be familiar with soccer.”

“If you type ‘tactic’ into the search bar, we now have a Wikipedia of football within the game called Fampedia. This feature explains tactics and provides information on which screens to access in‑game”.

Balancing accessibility for both new and existing players was a deliberate process, and the studio also mapped feature priorities across six player personas to balance the needs of newcomers, existing players, and hardcore fans.

“This approach has become an integral part of our development process as we’ve grown as a studio and our player base has expanded.”

Integrating women’s football

Other sports games have started integrating women’s teams into their gameplay, and Football Manager 26 is following suit. Adding women’s teams was “a five‑year‑long endeavor,” led by expert hires and a global research network, according to Jacobson.

He details the approach: “She then recruited individuals worldwide to join our research network. Many of the researchers who worked on men’s football were also passionate about women’s football and offered their assistance”.

The team avoided unfair cross-sex comparisons and instead modeled women’s players against women’s data, reworked motion capture to accommodate different body shapes, and utilized volumetric Hawkeye data to enhance visual fidelity.

Jacobson confirms Football Manager 26 ships with 11 women’s leagues and 14 divisions at launch and intends to expand coverage further.

UI, engine, visuals, and the match engine

Football Manager 26’s new interface centers on three navigation systems: a top menu, a submenu, and bookmarks to surface information in smaller, manageable chunks for shorter attention spans. Jacobson frames the technical leap as strategic: the team moved to Unity rather than patching the old engine and purposely rebuilt systems to support more realistic tactics and animation work.

“This is the first of our next‑generation games. FM 24 was a great game and the perfect end for the series. This is the next stage of the next 20 years”.

Football Manager 26 divides tactics into possession and out-of-possession categories, allowing teams to change their behavior depending on the game state. Jacobson says tactical diversity depends on players’ profiles and stamina, and stresses that there is no universal “best” tactic: “You play it any way you want to. I’m not here to dictate how people should play the game.”

He also highlights thousands of AI improvements aimed at better passing choices, marking, and defensive decision‑making, and teases a developer video and blog detailing the top changes.

“Thousands of improvements have been made to the AI due to the significant impact of in-possession and out-of-possession tactics.”

Transfers, licenses, and platform strategy

On transfer realism, Jacobson argues market prices reflect clubs’ valuations and real‑world negotiation dynamics, urging players to negotiate rather than accept asking prices. The team secured new licenses, including the English Premier League, and partnered with Hawkeye to utilize motion and volumetric data, enhancing realism on and off the ball.

“There are more new licenses to be announced before launch. You’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out what licenses we have in the game.”

Jacobson also explains strategic platform choices, confirming that Football Manager mobile will be a Netflix exclusive and stressing that subscription and streaming partnerships helped broaden the audience globally.

Long-term Vision

Miles Jacobson positions Football Manager 26 as both a technical and cultural reset: the studio rebuilt the engine, refined AI and accessibility, and invested in women’s football with plans to grow coverage and parity.

He closes by thanking players and reiterating long‑term commitment: “Asia is crucial to us. Subscription platforms have enabled many in Asia who couldn’t afford the game to play it now. We’re committed to the long term and hope to satisfy long‑time players. Cheers”.

Football Manager 26 will launch on November 5, 2025, on PS5, Xbox Series, Switch, PC, Mac, and Netflix.