For years now SI’s Football Manager series has dominated the market and it’s not gone unnoticed by EA. Over the weekend an open letter to the community was published by FIFA Manager developer Bright Future’s Gerald Köhler and it brings bad news for the franchise.
With one title now dominating the market, and it has done for years, EA has decided that any work needed to bring the FIFA Manager franchise up to speed would not be worth the expense or effort. Köhler explained:
“The football manager genre at this level of sophistication is highly specialised and primarily played in two countries (England and Germany), in which – on top of everything – one game has practically dominated the market in recent years. The niche market and general trend toward online and mobile games were also contributing factors. Moreover, FM had reached a crossroads at which a new engine and/or corresponding online technology would be the only way to give the series a boost. When all these factors were evaluated, it led us to the decision to blow the final whistle. ”
“You have our heartfelt gratitude. We hope you’ll keep playing FM as long as possible, and that the fan sites will go all out to expand and improve the game wherever they can. For all your years of support and all your passion for our game, we thank you. ”
This is great news for Sports Interactive who have managed to keep pumping out new versions and updating the Football Manager series for years. Köhler points out that FIFA Manager was primarily played in the UK and Germany but that’s still a pretty big market and one that’s being nicely sewn up by SI.
FIFA Manager and EA has had a decent run with their management series, the first being FIFA Manager 06 was released back in 2005 and last month FIFA Manager 14 was released with absolutely no attention being paid to it at all.
Published: Nov 25, 2013 05:39 pm