FM Content Creators Have Had Enough: Is Time Up for FM26?

Most of the time, the FM scene online is tactics screenshots, wonderkid threads, jokes about losing a title on goal difference and someone inevitably starting a save in the Faroe Islands for the tenth year running. However, over the last few months, it has now turned into group therapy.

DoctorBenjy asked a simple question this week – “How are you finding FM26?” – the replies are damning. 

What followed was dozens of long-time creators basically admitting they’ve fallen out of love with the game.

 

The soul of the game is gone

One of the most passionate replies (surprise surprise) came from Passion4FM, who said that even though FM26 is technically better now than it was at launch, something still feels missing.

They described the game as harder to get lost in. Like you’re just playing matches rather than doing the extra stuff that’s always been at the heart of Football Manager, training, scouting, Data Hub deep dives, all the little details that used to pull you in.

That word came up again and again in the thread: immersion.

Or more accurately, the lack of it.

 

A hobby turning into a job

Content creator Trequinho put it in even simpler terms. They’ve lost the desire to play. The connection to saves has gone. What used to feel like a hobby has started to feel like work, sitting there making tactics for downloads rather than actually enjoying the game.

That’s a pretty bleak thing to read from someone who’s been part of the FM community for years.

It wasn’t a one-off. Tony from FM Grasshopper said he’d blogged consistently for more than a decade, sinking hundreds of hours into every version of FM. FM26 has stopped that completely. No urge to go back. Just done with it.

 

Playing and feeling drained 

RDF Tactics, one of the biggest tactical creators in the space, was even more honest.

He said he finds it hard to play at all. When he does, he comes away feeling drained rather than excited to keep going. Content has slowed down because he can’t enjoy the game enough to make it.

Benjy asked what the main issue was and RDF’s answer was interesting because it wasn’t about one specific massive feature being missing. It was about the feel of it. The navigation, the endless clicking, the way the flow doesn’t feel effortless anymore.

 

Creators are losing audiences

It wasn’t only about enjoyment, either. A few people pointed out that the wider FM audience just isn’t as engaged this year.

ChesnoidGaming said he can’t bring himself to make content because player numbers are down and viewership has dropped, especially for creators outside the very biggest names.

That’s one of the knock-on effects of a messy launch. If fewer people are playing, fewer people are watching. And suddenly spending hours on a long save video feels harder to justify.

Jay said something similar: views are down, certain types of videos feel like more of a chore to make, and the fun gets sucked out of it.

This has been a common theme amongst pretty much every content creator, which makes sense when you look at FM26 player counts.

 

Not everyone hates FM26… but the mood is obvious

To be fair, the thread wasn’t completely negative. Some creators said the updates have helped and they’re still enjoying their saves. A few even described FM26 as more “plug and play” than previous games, easier to keep moving through seasons, even if some of the depth has taken a hit.

But the overall tone, especially from people who’ve been doing this for ten or fifteen years, was pretty consistent. They’re not furious.. they’re just not feeling it.

 

Benjy’s point about competition is hard to ignore

Benjy himself said he thinks the game is much better than it was at launch, but made a pretty important comment: if there was another serious management game on the market, FM26 might not have recovered at all. Sports Interactive can survive a bad year partly because there isn’t really an alternative. That’s not something you want to rely on forever.

 

This isn’t just a bad patch cycle

What makes this thread stand out is that it doesn’t feel like the usual complaints. People aren’t arguing about whether long throws are overpowered or if the match engine needs tweaking. They’re talking about motivation and feeling disconnected. About not wanting to load up a save.

And when the people whose entire job is to play Football Manager are saying that… it probably tells you something. Maybe FM27 fixes it. Maybe the series finds its rhythm again. Maybe this is just a painful transition year. But reading through the comments, it’s hard not to feel like FM26 has left a lot of the community in a strange place.

 

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