Is FM26 in a state to look forward now?

To say that Football Manager 26 has been maligned would be an understatement. Since launch, the overall English-speaking reviews have been “mostly negative” on Steam, and I can’t disagree with every single one of them. That said, I have been one of the people who didn’t find this past November’s release to be an affront to my entire being, as apparently some have. To put my entire thoughts after hundreds of hours post-review, I have my gripes with FM26, but I know that it is the first year of a new – attempting to be better – philosophy.

Well, recently, some people, like MrTini23 as he goes by on Patreon and Twitter, as well as others, have cracked the code on making the UI a little bit more digestible. Including the release of FM Skin Builder; making it more accessible, to some degree, to make skins. This, alongside countless other mods and such, greatly improves the experience overall, including camera tweaks, custom stadiums (with a heavy performance hit), and other more typical things. So my question is, is FM26 and beyond in a state where we can look forward now? Look forward to updates and to the next game.

To me, yes. Presumably, it will get easier over time, and eventually (when it comes to FM27 or 28), mods will be slightly tweaked to move to the next game. This is the good thing about Unity and that engine switch: It is a bit more accessible to get into the guts once people have figured it out initially. However, I’m not just talking about the mods and skins that are improving the experience of FM26; I’m also talking about the updates, with the latest couple returning some things we’ve asked for since launch back in November.

Shouts in-game now have little icons highlighting what they will do, alongside the actual meaning of the words. Nice gentle accessibility. However, most importantly, the latest update (26.1.3) has added in pass maps. Praise the baby Jeebuz on this such blessed day, you can actually see what’s going on in games. You can even see it in the data hub, so you can actually analyze the game post-match. These are tiny things, and they should have been there from the start, but honestly, it is the right direction.

That said, the base UI still has its problems, where it has almost always had its problems. A good example of this Tiles and Cards thing not exactly working is the squad loans page, which is like trying to decipher information in an Excel spreadsheet on a Nokia 3300 on the other side of the planet. However, with skins like MrTini’s, you get those Tiles (or Cards, whatever) that are large enough that you actually see what information you need to know. Such as team, loan happiness, performance, and most importantly, get more than three names showing up.

Though all the same, you have the Portal Overview page, which we all moaned about at launch and continue to, as there are four different calendar options. Whatever MrTini has done has dramatically improved the overall quality of that UI/UX, simply by giving you (as a player) some information that is actually useful. This has been my problem; it is basically everyone’s problem. The UI and UX don’t entirely help the player workflow.

Add to this the mods that are being worked on, those that have been released, and what will be released in the next year or so for the next game, too. The supposed international update is set to release this cycle. More leagues, presumably, especially for the Women’s football side. There is a lot to look forward to when it comes to FM26 in the coming months, both from updates and what modders are doing.

Despite all of this praise and optimism, mostly due to the work of modders, Football Manager 26 isn’t perfect, and I’ve never said it was. As I keep saying, I am looking ahead – looking at what is to come, what is set to be done, and what can be done with the tools now available. I’m enjoying the time I’m giving FM26 at the moment, and maybe I’m making my own fun out of it by scouting and finding good players. However, there is still much work to be done with FM26 as we look forward.