Football Manager 25 cancelled, as Sega shifts focus to FM26Refunds offered for anyone who pre-ordered twice-delayed project.Image credit: Sports Interactive News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief Published on Feb. 7, 2025 Sega and Sports Interactive have scrapped Football Manager 25, and will now refocus on getting ready for the series' next release.The announcement this morning, made as part of Sega's latest financial results, is a surprise move for the annual sporting franchise. But it follows repeated delays for FM25 - which had been billed as the biggest leap forward for the series in a generation.Previous setbacks saw FM25 delayed twice, with its most recent postponement meaning it was set to arrive at an awkward moment, mid-football season. It would also have meant Sports Interactive needing to sell two entries in the series - FM25 and the expected FM26 - within the same calendar year. Now, FM25 is no more - something Sports Interactive has today issued an apology for, and said that anyone who had pre-ordered the game would now be automatically refunded. "For the large numbers of you who pre-ordered FM25, we thank you enormously for your trust and support we're very sorry to have let you down," a statement from Sports Interactive reads. "We know this will come as a huge disappointment, especially given that the release date has already moved twice, and you have been eagerly anticipating the first gameplay reveal."As previously announced, there will be no update to the series' most recent entry, FM24, with fresh player data. This would be a "substantial undertaking" that would "divert critical resources away from the development of the next release which requires our full focus", Sports Interactive said today, and the cancellation of FM25 has not changed this.Sports Interactive had previously said it would update fans in January 2025 - a deadline it says it was forced to miss by a week due to compliance with Sega being a publicly traded company."We can only apologise for the time it has taken to communicate this decision. Due to stakeholder compliance, including legal and financial regulations, today was the earliest date that we could issue this statement."Sports Interactive blamed the decision on "a variety of challenges that we've been open about to date, and many more unforeseen"."As we approached critical milestones at the turn of the year, it became unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required, even with the adjusted timeline," the statement continues."Whilst many areas of the game have hit our targets, the overarching player experience and interface is not where we need it to be. As extensive evaluation has demonstrated, including consumer playtesting, we have clear validation for the new direction of the game and are getting close however, we're too far away from the standards you deserve."We could have pressed on, released FM25 in its current state, and fixed things down the line - but that's not the right thing to do. We were also unwilling to go beyond a March release as it would be too late in the football season to expect players to then buy another game later in the year."Through the cancellation, every effort is now focused on ensuring that our next release achieves our goal and hits the quality level we all expect. We will update you on how we are progressing with that as soon as we are able to do so."Thank you for reading, your patience and your continued support. Our full focus now returns to creating a new era for Football Manager."Last year, Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell sat down with Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson for an in-depth chat on the studio's plans for the future of the Football Manager franchise, and to hear why "FM25 is not a continuation of FM24". The chat covers discussion on the state of Game Pass, AI and the Premier League - plus detail on why some past Football Manager features had to go.