19 September 2026
Last updated: 1 September 2026. This article will be updated as Sports Interactive reveals more.
Football Manager 27 is coming in November 2026. After the cancelled FM25 and the rough launch of FM26, it's the most important release Sports Interactive has had in a long time, and the studio knows it. Here's what has been confirmed, what's been hinted, and what's still unknown.
November 2026. SI confirmed the month on 27 August in a video update from new Senior Community Manager Chris Groves, alongside an FAQ on the SI forums. The exact date hasn't been announced. The series traditionally launches on the first or second Tuesday of November, which would put it at 3 or 10 November, with a two-week early access period for pre-orders before that. None of that is confirmed yet.
All versions will launch in November, according to SI, but the platform list hasn't been published. FM26 was on PC, Mac, PS5, Xbox Series, Switch (a month later), Apple Arcade (as FM Touch) and Netflix (mobile). It would be a surprise if FM27 dropped any of those, but SI is being careful about promising things this year.
Not live yet. SI has said it made a deliberate decision to show more of the game before opening pre-orders, which is a direct response to the FM26 backlash from people who pre-ordered without seeing it. Pricing and subscription details for each platform are due closer to release. FM26 was £54.99 on PC at launch and was on Game Pass.
The key line from Groves: they're evolving the current design while restoring ideas and behaviours from earlier editions that players valued. In practice that means:
SI has been direct that player feedback on FM26 heavily shaped FM27's priorities. Given the specific complaints, the things to watch for are: fewer clicks for common tasks, squad and comparison screens that show more at once, and the return of features that never made it back into FM26.
For the first time, SI opened a playtesting programme before release. Over 40,000 people applied. Selected testers get access to development builds through to launch, with alpha testing starting in early September. That's a big change from the closed process of previous years and should mean fewer launch-day surprises. Testers are under NDA, so don't expect leaks, but do expect SI to be more confident about what ships.
SI has said feature deep dives and first looks at gameplay will roll out from September onwards. An official Football Manager Discord server is also launching in September as a direct line between the studio and players. If the pattern from previous years holds, expect a headline feature reveal, then a series of shorter blogs on specific areas, then the pre-order and early access announcement in October.
Too early to say. What's different this year is that SI is showing the game before asking for money, and letting 40,000 players test it first. Both of those are good signs. The sensible approach is to watch the September deep dives, read the early access impressions in late October, and decide then.
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