The newest iteration in the long-running series, Football Manager 2018 is set to release in a little over a month’s time. To drum up a bit of buzz, Developer Sports Interactive has released a new video touting some of the new features in the game. It is presented in a somewhat bizarre way, but you can go ahead and skip to the 2:40 mark to get past (most of) the shenanigans.
Scouting has always been one of the biggest issues in the series, especially as careers stretch for many years. The AI has never been able to do a great job plugging holes as players retire and teams start to break down.
Other promised updates include updated stadiums and game presentation, better tactics, and an updated graphics engine. Finally, one of the biggest focuses of the Football Manager 2018 is “dynamics,” but the video, unfortunately, does not tell us just what that means.
The Football Manager series is a strange beast. Although it is seemingly just a series of spreadsheets with an occasional soccer match thrown into the mix, each new iteration is routinely a best seller and it is consistently in the top 10 on the Steam charts. Even if you know very little about the beautiful game, however, it has that addictive quality that every simulation and strategy game tries to emulate. Similar to the Civilization series, “one more match” can become a mantra that keeps you awake for several more hours. When wins start piling up and you link together the perfect group of players, there aren’t many better feelings in a game I’ve played.
You can prepurchase Football Manager 2018 on Steam right now, and players who own last year’s iteration receive a 25 percent discount if they pre-order the game before October 9. It releases for PC on November 10. Stay tuned for more information on the game as it becomes available.
