Football Manager 2011 unveiled

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 11 August, 2010

Due out before Christmas.

SEGA's announced Football Manager 2011.

It'll be released for PC and Mac before Christmas this year.

A PlayStation Portable version, called Football Manager Handheld 2011, will also be released before Christmas.

FM2011's got real-time contract negotiations, a revamped training system and match engine improvements.

There's a new "match preparation" area of training so managers can give specific areas to focus on in the lead up to a match.

There are also more basic training schedules for players, and 14 different individual skill areas that you can focus your players on.

There are new boardroom and backroom requests and a new player interaction module that allows the manager to have private conversations with players and public conversations regarding players at other clubs.

Over 100 new animations have been added to the 3D match engine.

There are more player emotions, new player models, new stadiums, pitch textures, improved lighting, floodlit night matches and more goal celebrations.

The media module's been revamped, too, so managers can better keep up to date with events going on in their football world.

"And the most requested feature that the Sports Interactive community has asked for in the last few years, dynamic league reputation, which makes for an even more realistic model of the footballing world."

The series has sold more than six million copies worldwide, SEGA said.

From the official blurb: "For the first time ever, aspiring managers can now negotiate contracts with players in real time. And by working with a multitude of real-life football agents, Sports Interactive gained an insight as to how these negotiations can be made as realistic as possible in-game.

"Prepare to meet different types of agents in your contract talks; each with their own personality so will therefore need a different approach."

"At Sports Interactive, we always strive to give the end-user the best experience possible," said Miles Jacobson, studio director at Sports Interactive.

"The training system for example has always been the best we thought it could be, until now. We've found a way to make it even better!"

The first screenshots are below. We're speaking to Miles Jacobson in a bit. Pop any questions you've got in the comments below and we'll do our best.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Hantheman #1 2 years ago

    I was completely not expecting this game. At all.

  • Harmonica #2 2 years ago

    They've added a lot of things I've wanted for ages, the increased training and player interaction most notably. If it all plays into the engine with the same sophistication as the rest of it, then sounds fantastic.

  • tomkuryakin #3 2 years ago

    Ask him how long it will take to play a season, on average. And don't let him wriggle off the hook by saying people play it different ways.

  • Harmonica #4 2 years ago

    "And don't let him wriggle off the hook by saying people play it different ways."

    Yeah but.. that's pretty much the truth. I'm still playing my FM09 game which I started in 2008, and I'm only into year 2013 (just). The game time is over 600 hours (yes, about a month).

    Other friends I know can race through whole seasons in a day or two.
    Edited by Harmonica at 11/08/10 @ 12:55

  • insincere_dave #5 2 years ago

    Think I'll just upgrade my copy of Excel to the 2010 version and stick a few footbally sounding column headings into a worksheet. Voilą, an equally futile, mind numbing attempt to accurately model football management.

  • Harmonica #6 2 years ago

    There's nothing mind numbing about FM, bugger off you ponce.

  • Yossarian #7 2 years ago

    Just when I thought I was out...

  • hiddenranbir #8 2 years ago

    ""And the most requested feature that the Sports Interactive community has asked for in the last few years, dynamic league reputation, which makes for an even more realistic model of the footballing world.""

    About time, I remember discussing that a lot on the forums, long term games got a further plus to it onw.

  • Mkwone #9 2 years ago

    Wait the series has only sold 6million copies since 2005? Why aren't more people buying it?

    The changes don't really do much for me but i'm sure i'll buy it. I spend hundreds of hours on the game each year.

  • Waffleaber #10 2 years ago

    As ever I'll wait for the inevitable January transfer update and bug fix patch next year but always good to know what new features are incoming.

  • FWB #11 2 years ago

    Haven't played FM in a while - computer isn't good enough. But they should add a feature whereby all football scores and transfers (bar yours) are taken from real life. You'd have to play it slowly through the season, but still... might be interesting.

  • Grump #12 2 years ago

    Ipad version please :)

  • Merlinho #13 2 years ago

    Can you ask if there is a new iPhone version planned?

  • metamorphic #14 2 years ago

    Game looking better than ever before. My question: can we port over editor data or league edit data from FM2010 onto the new game? It would be nice if there was a conversion feature of some kind.
    Edited by metamorphic at 11/08/10 @ 13:27

  • tomkuryakin #15 2 years ago

    @Harmonica

    Of course, you are right. But you can only race through a season by ignoring all the new features that they keep adding. If you want to explore FM in all its depth and complexity, then it takes a long time to play just a single season.

    I'm afraid that I no longer have that much time available to play any game, especially not an "endless" game like FM.

  • MDL199 #16 2 years ago

    I'll be buying the psp version which i actually prefer to the pc version. I probably play this more than any other game.
    Edited by MDL199 at 11/08/10 @ 14:29

  • superdelphinus #17 2 years ago

    "insincere_dave
    11/08/10 @ 12:46
    ignore poster | #6
    -13
    Think I'll just upgrade my copy of Excel to the 2010 version and stick a few footbally sounding column headings into a worksheet. Voilą, an equally futile, mind numbing attempt to accurately model football management."

    is it 1994 again?

  • hiddenranbir #18 2 years ago

    @dave

    Willing to provide us with a developing 3D match engine with it too?

  • zombielvis #19 2 years ago

    Hope the PSP version comes with a music player built in this time. Always found it strange that a game with practically no sound doesn't let you listen to anything while playing.

  • Codger81 #20 2 years ago

    It reached it's zenith with CM 2001/2002. The first FM was alright, but their inability to fix long running problems turned me off FM a while back.

  • Mr.DNA #21 2 years ago

    I would like the next game to make it easier to land big-name signings. I know that this would be a concession to my lazy, impatient nature, but a defining feature for me of the latest iterations of the game has been my wasting countless hours of a season searching for new players and managing to land none of them. Yes, I perhaps set my heights too high when I'm searching for talent, but I do feel that opposition clubs often ask for far too much money for many of their players. I know that this is perhaps "realistic" but there is no fun whatsoever in spending a considerable amount of time negotioating for players, only for the transfer window to close and you've signed a pile of nonsense. I love playing Football Manager, and I'll buy the next game and spend far too long playing it, but I often wish that there was an option available for shiftless slackers such as myself to be able to push a slider and have players become easier to sign.