Poll: FM2026 - What's your opinion?

My opinion in short: It's soooooo bad.
Seriously, does anyone think this is even playable?

Feels and looks like a flimsy kiddie game.
So far I really dislike it.

Can't believe how bad the GUI-handling is. No pop-ups to explain, ie. roles. Also features are several steps back , like when you filter with attributes, it is is now absolute - you cant search for players (or staff) fulfilling a decides number of the total (like fulfilling 8 of 10 wanted skills). This seriously hampers the search, and kinda makes the feature a joke. How on earth can the release a new version two years later, which has these severe feature drawbacks? Did they even try to play the game?

Here's the thing, guys - this is actually the EXACT same game as FM24, just chopped up and reconstructed for a console.

In lieu of a "major leap forward", they've actually changed very little, except remove some things that will frustrate the heck out of some users.

All of the things you hated about FM24 (and earlier).....pointless, generic press conferences, ridiculous contract and transfer negotiations....it's all still there, exactly as frustrating as it used to be.

All of the stuff that seems "new" is just the exact same stuff/function you had before, except with new labelling conventions to make you think it's fresh.

The only new feature is in possession/out of possession, which is kind of cool - but we certainly didn't need to blow the whole game up to deliver on this.

Even the match engine...which seems "new" - is clearly, essentially just the same engine we had in 24, with higher resolution and slightly nicer stadiums. set aside the shiny graphics and actually watch how the players behave - it's virtually unchanged - they still do all the same stupid stuff they always have.

I know some people will get their backs up about this - let me be explicitly clear - I am NOT upset that they added the women's leagues to the game. I AM, however, frustrated, that they clearly prioritized this at the expense of things that many people genuinely care about. I also don't believe for a second that the match engine interprets women player ratings any differently than the men. The game won't let you - but I guarantee if you were able to play a friendly between your women's team and your reserve team, the women would destroy them, which is ABSURD.

There is a large hardcore group of FM players who have been playing for decades and what they appreciate above all is REALISM (this is the 33rd iteration of CM/FM I've purchased - I stopped playing FIFA/EAFC years ago because of how ridiculous/unrealistic it is). That the developers have prioritized "peoples feelings" over accurately showcasing the level that the women's game is at is a serious black mark on the realism aspect, and casts doubt over the accuracy of every other facet of the game.

I should have realized when Miles finally started doing his press tour - with all that smugness dripping off of him, that we were about to get a hot piece of garbage. He was gleeful when speaking to the fact that more than 40m people played FM24. That's what he cares about - dumbing the game down for the masses - and he doesn't care how much he alienates his core, long-time player base. He is taking us for total chumps.

So what are we left with? Essentially, the same game we've been playing for two years, just completely de-optimized for PC gamers, with major features removed like shouts, the ability to customize your HUD information during live matches and, at least for now, international management.

Thanks Miles, I hate it.

i have deinstall it and go back to 24

Hate it, i am trying really hard to get used to it but its so bad, scouting ruined, staff search ruined even simple things like looking at my own players is so bad. The Ui feels so cold and bland nothing stands out just a blob of information everywhere. Genuinely gutted!! Desperately hoping somebody develops a skin to make it playable.

2025-10-25 19:58#307789 haynzey : Hate it, i am trying really hard to get used to it but its so bad, scouting ruined, staff search ruined even simple things like looking at my own players is so bad. The Ui feels so cold and bland nothing stands out just a blob of information everywhere. Genuinely gutted!! Desperately hoping somebody develops a skin to make it playable.

Miles has confirmed that there is no skin support for FM26. You're stuck with this abomination with no remedy, I'm afraid.

Personally I am sick and tired of woke getting everywhere, the managers all look like women, with make up and god knows what other crap. Then there is all this crap of pronouns, and as for the womens regens, they look like PUKE, they are truely awful.

As for the game, I am not far enough in to give much of a contructive view yet. I suspect I won't be playing the game much, I seem to get bored with the game of the last few years.

Given I have played every version since 1997.

Having played the game now for several days I am left feeling very dissapointed.

I have played these games for a long time, since early Championship manager games etc

Now don't get me wrong some of the new version is very good (well 3D Match looks ok) but overall I get a feeling of sadness at the in the direction this game that so many of us love is heading.

It feels and looks to me like a cheaper version, a completly different game infact, like a poor competitor to FM.
Looks and feels made for Console or Mobile.

I keep expecting a popup saying “buy more finance now” it seems like a mobile game to me, one I wouldnt touch usually.

Greater people than me have said thats it for them (flut being one), I personally have made content for over ten years and I just can't find the strength anmymore to try and improve a game year after year.
Lets be honest if it wasn't for us creators the game would have been unplayable for years,

Will I stick with it ? probably but overall as I said, I feel underwhelmed, hurt and overlooked by the people at Si, they do not have a clue.

To me FM24 is way better but its early days, hoping it grows on me a little more when fullly released.

I had a lot of hopes for FM 26 they had two years to fully address all issues.

The gameplay mechanic is the best thing, along with possibly slightly better AI that does develop players better than FM 24.

However UI is a complete mess, many clicks to do things, everything more complicated and cannot find where things are, like training and calendars having so many things into them, UI was cleaner and easier to follow in previous FM. Tactics instructions easier to understand before now, everything more complicated.

I am considering refund and hope maybe console FM 26 does the trick tbh.

Also the whole card and boxes which seems to make the game more console friendly while PC users are given second class treament.

Also why did they included "pronouns" during manager creation ? Makes no sense.

I'll probably seek a refund and wait for a sale to buy the game or something like that.

UI is god awful, regen faces and manager creation is an abomination.

Seriously thinking about a refund.

im back to 24, its the worst fm i played

This could be an end to FM altogether, prioritizing adding the womens teams over playability is criminal, how many units will they shift for this? how many fans will fall away in future because of this? aesthetically it looks like a cheap console game from the 90s, I know it's early days and hopefully this is far from the finished product but after messing up with no FM25 this is not worth the wait.

There has to be an option included to not have womens teams unless you want them, same option for mens teams too for those who want to play the womens leagues, otherwise the game slows as its bloated with players and teams there is simply no interest in (speaking for myself). Why can you not create a manager without 'pronouns'? what the hell is that about?

The UI is not user friendly at all, unless you play on console, and the graphics for manager creation are poorer than WII graphics. Its not a great start after a 2year wait but hopefully feedback will be taken on board by SI as the game gets closer to completion.

I am not upset that they added the womens leagues to the game, however, I am upset that they cannot be deselected so the game runs smoothly.

The greatest asset FM has is the content creators, the people who create skins, tactics, databases etc, I believe even these legends will struggle to bring what is looking like a prize turd up to scratch.

you cant even save your squad lineups,no manage squad option, exact same game with a ui that is optimised for touch, its as if theyve tried to port the console version back to pc rather than the other way around, i dont know if could get a refund but if could probably would