Football Manager 26 Launch Sparks Heavy Criticism As Steam Reviews Plunge

Football Manager 26 has entered the pitch and walked straight into a storm, with Steam user reactions falling sharply within its first day on sale. Despite a year-long delay and the scrapping of FM25 in pursuit of a stronger rebuild, Football Manager 26 has opened to Mostly Negative reviews, sitting near the bottom of Steam’s rating scale just 24 hours into release. Football Manager 26 reaction from long-time players, many of whom have followed the series for decades, paints a picture of frustration and disbelief at the game’s state.

The criticism centers on stability, interface changes, and general polish. FM26 introduces a redesigned UI and a new match engine, elements that were meant to push the series forward after Sports Interactive paused its yearly cycle to rework core systems. Instead, players describe widespread bugs, performance problems, and a layout that feels slower and more fragmented than the one it replaces.

Complaints across the community focus on the impression of unfinished work.

“The game just isn't finished. There's still over 13k bugs on the forums,” wrote user Ally. “The polish the game has for a full-priced release is an absolute scandal, misaligned text, inconsistent UI design, buttons not working, freezing, poor optimisation.”

User Saruwatari echoed the sentiment:

“From the most basic functionality to the actual match engine, there's not a single area of this game that is not ridden with bugs.”

The redesigned interface, aimed at simplifying the management layer, has drawn particular scrutiny. Users argue that the overhaul forces more clicks, separates information that previously lived on unified screens, and makes navigating daily tasks slower than in FM24.

“You have to click a lot more to get the info you need,” user Frifonz wrote, adding that the shift toward smaller interface widgets makes routine checks harder. Vanquishhx73 viewed the change as a step backward in utility, stating that “it’s had way too much stripped out of it in terms of the details and information that you had on FM24.”

A portion of the player base has defended the changes, though not without caveats.

“As a newbie FM player I like the new UI, tutorial + FMPedia. It’s easy to get into, not confusing, unlike the previous game,” said user Luzire. Jason360x suggested some backlash may come from long-term fans resisting change, arguing that “the UI takes some time to get used to but looks much better,” while still acknowledging it is “somewhat buggy.”

One area with broader support is the new match engine, which many users see as a promising foundation even amid the broader issues.

“The new engine looks promising. It clearly has potential for the future and there are moments when you can see what this new generation of FM could become in a few years,” wrote user K, though they concluded that “the soul of the series has been ripped out.”

For some veterans, the launch has triggered a pointed emotional response.

“Been playing since 1993 and this is the worst one,” said Reck. Another long-time fan, StevehFC, offered a similar view: “As someone who has played FM for over 20 years and since the championship management days. This release is by far the worst.”

With Sports Interactive having invested extra development time and positioned FM26 as a major refresh, the weight of fan disappointment is significant. Football Manager remains one of PC gaming’s most enduring franchises, and its annual rhythm has shaped expectations around reliability and progression. The studio will now face pressure to address the game’s issues quickly, especially as this launch follows a canceled installment and a rare pause in the series’ release cadence.

Whether patches and refinements can stabilize the perception of FM26 in the coming weeks remains open. For now, the reception reflects a community caught between long-standing loyalty and immediate frustration, confronting a release that has arrived with ambition but lacks the stability and clarity fans expected.

Read also, Football Manager 26 Touch arrived on Apple Arcade on November 4 to expand across platforms later in the year. Mobile and console players got their own route into the new season and allowing FM24 Touch careers to carry forward.