EVERYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW

DF11 Faces
Oct 16
2 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

FM26 may be the successor to FM2024, but it's essentially a completely new game.

Get ready for a new user interface, a new engine, and many new features.

As a result, Football Manager won't feel familiar for a while, so we'll tell you everything you don't really want to know about this great new game.

This blog was written with a wink at the future, based on the information available at the time of writing.

Get F1 Manager on your old laptop

I want to start by saying that I've played Football Manager for many years on a real low-budget laptop, so I understand the frustration and helplessness that can come with it.

While the additional system requirements for FM26 aren't too demanding, some managers may soon feel as if they're playing F1 Manager instead. If you have an older, low-budget laptop, you might notice your cooling fans humming and whirring once the game is running for a while. Combined with the cheers from 3D crowds, it can really feel like an F1 Manager experience.

Farewell beloved skins

One downside is the absence of custom skins. Although initial reviews of the standard FM26 skin are positive, the lack of custom skins will likely be missed over time.

Without custom skins, there will also be no custom panels. This means that all facepacks, logos, and kitpacks will be displayed in the standard format set by the developers. It remains unclear whether optional packs like the trophy and stadium packs will work in FM26.

Messed up Custom add-ons

After just an hour with FM26, it's clear that the graphical enhancements from the FM Community are disappointingly rendered.

The default graphics in FM26—like the licensed player images and logos—are shockingly low in quality. Can you really picture Messi being satisfied with his representation in this edition?

While this design choice might aim to keep the game's performance light, it significantly undermines the potential for high-quality visuals that the FM Community can provide.

For example, faint lines mar most graphics, especially custom face packs, creating a noticeable downgrade from previous FM versions! This is a letdown that fans of the series shouldn't have to accept.

More handy features that are missing in FM26

A much-loved feature in previous editions was the key attributes for the player roles. This has now been removed.

Unfortunately, the handy information icon (i) was also removed, which provided a quick overview of player attributes.

Goodbye hobby

SI has confirmed that graphic packs, such as facepacks and logo packs, will still work in FM26. However, the restrictions on graphical modding are likely to impact many creators who have enhanced the realism and enjoyment of the game. Sadly, some may now find themselves pursuing a different hobby after serving the FM community for many years.