Football Manager's Player Explosion: Subscription Sorcery, Industry Headaches, and the Battle for Your Eyeballs
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Football Manager's player numbers have skyrocketed to 19 million, largely thanks to subscription platforms, showcasing a strategic approach that Miles Jacobson credits for the series' unprecedented growth and longevity. However, this success exists against a backdrop of industry skepticism from other developers who view these same platforms as an "unsustainable model" contributing to layoffs and a fierce "battle for eyeballs" across all entertainment.
Right, so you know that feeling when you try a new spell, and instead of a tiny spark, you accidentally conjure a dragon that’s bigger than your house? That's kinda what Football Manager, bless its annual heart, just did with its player numbers. I've been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. It's a tale of undeniable success, clever strategy, and a big ol' dose of industry-wide existential dread.
Turns out, Sports Interactive's Football Manager series isn't just popular; it's gone absolutely ballistic. We're talking about numbers that would make most studios weep with joy – or maybe just question reality a bit. Miles Jacobson, the gaffer over at Sports Interactive, dropped some seriously eye-popping figures in a recent chat. He mentioned that back in 2020, they were chuffed to bits celebrating 2 million players for the first time. Fast forward to now, and you might want to find a comfy chair, mate, because the series has apparently hit a staggering **19.09 million players!**
Yeah, you read that right. Nearly twenty million people have dipped their toes into the beautifully complex world of managing virtual football clubs. And here’s the kicker: 7.5 million of those have played for more than five hours, which, as Jacobson wisely points out, usually means they're in it for the long haul. Even more impressive, FM24 – a game that launched back in November 2023 – had more regular daily players this past summer than when it first came out. More, mind you! We're talking 1.7 *billion* hours of total playtime for FM24 alone. My brain actually short-circuited trying to process that. Average playtime sits at a hefty 118.8 hours, even with all the curious folks who just tried it for an hour and bailed. Without 'em? We're talking hundreds of hours each. Fair dinkum, that's dedication!
This fascinating intel comes courtesy of an interview Eurogamer conducted with Sports Interactive's head honcho, Miles Jacobson (big thanks to Chris Tapsell for digging into this). And the secret sauce behind this monstrous growth? Subscription platforms. Yep, the usual suspects: Xbox Game Pass, PS Plus, Apple Arcade, Netflix, and more. Jacobson credits these platforms directly for the incredible boom.
Now, here’s where my gentle skepticism meter starts to flicker. You hear about these platforms giving games a massive audience boost, and FM is clearly proof of concept. But Jacobson also revealed that while they have nine times as many players, their revenue has only gone up by two and a half times. That's a curious discrepancy, isn't it? Like casting a wealth spell that only gives you a fraction of the gold you expected. Jacobson explains it's down to the varied (and often super-secret) dealings with different platforms – some offer upfront fees and royalties, some just royalties based on 'eyeballs' or playtime. It's a complicated web of digital economics, designed to make a wizard like me scratch his head, trying to read the digital tea leaves.
What's particularly interesting is SI's claim of *no cannibalisation* of their direct sales. This is a point of contention for many other developers. How do they pull it off? Jacobson reckons it's partly down to their long-standing relationship with publisher Sega (who also happens to own them), and the annual nature of Football Manager. They planned this meticulously, not just stumbled into it. They built a whole business model around subscriptions, embarking on a five-year journey of experiments before fully committing. Their strategy was about building a 'long-term addressable audience' – essentially, an insurance policy of dedicated players, should the platforms ever decide to pivot.
But here's where the narrative gets a bit spicy, and a whole lot more complex for the wider industry. Not everyone sees these subscription services as a golden ticket. Back in July, Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios, called Game Pass the "elephant in the room" during conversations about Microsoft's layoffs. He basically argued it's an "unsustainable model" that's been "increasingly damaging the industry for a decade," propped up by "infinite money." He even suggested it's either going to kill off other models or collapse itself. Michael Douse from Larian Studios (you know, the Baldur's Gate 3 folks) echoed similar sentiments, fed up with the "bs they fed us at first like 'don't worry, it doesn't impact the sales,' only to admit years later that it totally does."
Bloody hell, that’s quite the contrast, isn't it? On one hand, you have Football Manager absolutely thriving, attributing its success to these very platforms. On the other, respected industry veterans are warning of an impending doom, linking these services to layoffs and market distortion. It makes you wonder if FM is just uniquely positioned – a niche, annualised game with a rabid fanbase, perhaps less susceptible to the 'cannibalisation' others experience.
Jacobson, however, frames a lot of the industry's woes (like those painful layoffs) as a result of a much bigger cosmic tug-of-war: the "battle for eyeballs." He argues that games aren't just competing with other games anymore; they're fighting for your precious attention against Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, music, streamers – basically, *everything*. There are more games being released than ever before, budgets are skyrocketing, and there are only so many hours in the day. It’s a perfect storm, he reckons, where not every game can survive, and the market simply can't sustain the sheer volume and cost.
So, Football Manager, with its deeply entrenched five- and ten-year plans (even after the legendary FM25 cancellation, which you can read more about elsewhere, apparently!), seems to have found a way to navigate these turbulent waters. They've embraced the chaos, made a plan, and are reaping the rewards, all while acknowledging the wider struggles. It's a compelling case study, showcasing both the incredible potential of subscription platforms for certain titles, and the very real, very dark shadows they cast over the rest of the gaming landscape.
Ultimately, it begs the question: is Football Manager an outlier, a wizard who perfectly harnessed the subscription spell? Or is it a glimpse into a future where only the strategically prepared and uniquely positioned can truly flourish, while others wither in the battle for our ever-diminishing attention spans? As ever, mate, only time (and maybe a bit more digital tea leaf reading) will tell.
Tags: Football Manager, Game Pass, Subscription Services, Gaming Industry, Player Numbers
Original article: Eurogamer