Football Manager 25 has been hooked, with developer Sports Interactive focusing on Football Manager 26 instead. This year’s version – which had already been delayed twice and was due in March – was being billed as a massive leap forward for the popular spreadsheet sim, but the studio has decided to call curtains on the endeavour.

“Due to a variety of challenges that we’ve been open about to date, and many more unforeseen, we currently haven’t achieved what we set out to do in enough areas of the game, despite the phenomenal efforts of our team,” a statement from the studio said.

“Each decision to delay the release was made with the aim of getting the game closer to the desired level but, as we approached critical milestones at the turn of the year, it became unmistakably clear that we would not achieve the standard required, even with the adjusted timeline.”

The studio continued that while it’s achieved much of what it set out to do, the final product is “too far away from the standards you deserve”. As a result, it’s cancelling Football Manager 25, refocusing its efforts on Football Manager 26, and aiming to get back on track from there.

“We could have pressed on, released Football Manager 25 in its current state, and fixed things down the line – but that’s not the right thing to do,” it continued. “We were also unwilling to go beyond a March release as it would be too late in the football season to expect players to then buy another game later in the year. “

While it’s rare for these annual sports titles to miss their annual release schedules, we don’t hate the decision. At least with the extra time, Sports Interactive has a better shot at delivering on its vision for the series.

The only thing we’d criticise here is the lack of communication. The studio does say this was the earliest it could put out a statement, but it does feel like fans have been left in the lurch a little bit ever since the first delay.