Football Manager 25 delayed by SEGA, may impact company financials

This year's annual Football Manager game will miss its planned November launch, SEGA has announced.

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Football Manager 25 is now coming in March 2025 alongside a 5-month delay, and will not launch during its original November 26 release date. This marks the second time the game has been delayed by the publisher and developer.

"After careful consideration, Sports Interactive have made the tough decision to further delay the release of Football Manager 25. Following discussions with SEGA, our licensors and partners, we have agreed the best course of action is to delay the launch until March 2025. Specific platform release dates will follow once confirmed," the teams announced in a blog post.

SEGA notes that Football Manager 25 isn't like any other game in the series, and is the biggest leap in terms of overall tech and visuals.

"FM25 is the biggest technical and visual advancement in the series for a generation. We simply cannot compromise the delivery of this crucial juncture in Football Manager's history by rushing to release it in November."

The move will undoubtedly affect SEGA's holiday quarter earnings, and could also deliver lower-than-expected fiscal results. The holiday season is a critical time for all games publishers and developers as consumers rush to buy products and games for family members.

The Football Manager franchise has been a cash crop for SEGA for decades now, with the series accumulating more than 30 million downloads and game sales across the globe as of SEGA's FY23 period. The company may remark about this delay in their upcoming quarterly financials for the Q2 period.