A first look at Football Manager 2025’s interface with brand-new match engine (2024)

Sports Interactive have dropped a first look at Football Manager 2025's brand-new user interface as they embark on an exciting new era in their history.

For those who aren't aware, FM 25 will be the first Football Manager release to use Unity – a game engine that powers many of the world's best-known games.

Alongside a shiny new user interface that will "dramatically improve" how you navigate through screens, players will instantly notice an improvement to the match engine.

Earlier this month, we found out that Sports Interactive have signed a multi-year partnership with the Premier League, meaning all 20 clubs from England's top flight will be licensed in future editions of FM.

And on Thursday afternoon, studio director Miles Jacobson gave us more details about the upcoming release in a detailed development update, featuring concept images of the UI.

First things first, Jacobson talks about the features and modes that won’t be immediately available in the next edition of Football Manager.

Touchline Shouts will not be included in FM25 and won’t be back for the foreseeable future, according to Jacobson, who says he's "never been happy with them."

He adds: "A 'shout' should happen instantly, but they only came into effect after the ball had gone out of play. It also wasn’t clear to players how long the shout lasted for. So, for the time being, touchline shouts are gone from the game.

"I do really want them to come back, but they’ll only reappear if and when we can do them properly."

Create-A-Club, Versus mode, Challenge mode and Fantasy Draft will also not appear in Football Manager 2025, as well as the Social Media Screen and Data Chalkboard, but may return in the future.

In regards to the new user interface, there will be "major" changes.

Jacobson says: "With the new UI, our team have built powerful design and technical foundations that can be easily scaled and improved in the future. This means that every future addition will strengthen the UX without compromising consistency in our UI."

He goes on: "FM25’s new UI/UX is driven by what we have called a “tile and card” system. A “tile” is a panel of information with multiple different states, from small amounts of information to larger “cards” which contain more material.

"Our Design team wanted to create something that would help to build a sense of exploration for every player to reveal the depth and detail of Football Manager.

"In this system, the tiles are a way of building curiosity by providing a snapshot of information, while clicking through into cards rewards your interest with further detail.

"Tiles come in multiple different sizes that we call ‘states’ – this is so that we can use the information appropriately in various different screens and scenarios."

The below picture is an example of one tile, Player Form, in these different states. And the other screenshot is what happens when you click on the form tile.

One of the biggest announcements in the latest update is the decision to scrap the Inbox and introduce a "Portal".

Jacobson explains: "Historically the screen that people spend the most time on in FM has been the Inbox – essentially, your in-game email. For a while, this has felt quite old school given that modern football managers spend way more time on their phones than laptops.

"So, welcome to what we now call your “Portal”. The Portal will be a richer window to the wider footballing universe. It’ll give you far better tools to develop your story through the Agenda and Messages sections, but also deliver you more insight into what’s happening elsewhere via News and Matches."

The update also includes a new screen that users will see between their match highlights – and it gives us an insight into the potential of the new 'tile and card' system. More information on how it all works will follow during the official gameplay rollout in September.

Football Manager 25’s release date will be confirmed in early September and new gameplay elements will be unveiled shortly after.

An official Football Manager Podcast is also on the horizon, featuring interviews and stories from within the professional game, as well as some segments around the game in general. Exciting times indeed.

You can read the development update in full here.