FOOTBALL MANAGER 2024 BREAKS RECORDS, SCORES SEVEN MILLION PLAYER MILESTONE

SEGA :

London, England – 9^th February 2024 – Shattering its own records and catapulting the games into a new realm of success and innovation, more players than ever before have created their own footballing realities in Football Manager 2024, now the most-played title in the series' history.

The 20th release in Sports Interactive™’s and SEGA®’s iconic franchise recorded its seven millionth player earlier this week, breaking the previous record of 6.88 million players set by Football Manager™ 2023.

The previous total was achieved across FM23’s entire lifecycle. FM24 broke that record in less than 100 days following its worldwide release on November 6^th, 2023.

FM24 was also the most pre-purchased title in series history, with fans responding with incredible fervour to the most complete edition of FM to date.

FM24’s reach and appeal has been bolstered by its official debut in Japan and first launch on Netflix Games, with learnings from FM23’s launch on Apple Arcade and PlayStation 5 also paying dividends with the players/community feedback going directly into improvements for both FM24’s Apple Arcade release and console releases including the GamePass version.

Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson said: “Reaching this milestone of seven million players in barely three months gives me and everyone at the studio enormous pride.

“Knowing that this record was coming has allowed me to reflect on where we’ve come from and where we’ve got to as a studio – and we’ve come a long way. From a game originally made for fun by Paul and Ov Collyer in their Shropshire bedroom, to a studio pursued and purchased by SEGA, and now being embedded in the world of football and being partnered with some of the globe’s biggest clubs, competitions and brands - riding out all the ups and downs in the industry along the way - is truly mind blowing.”

“We’ve gone through three distinct phases in the studio’s life, growing in size and reach, but a lot of things haven’t changed throughout that time. One is the reason we make games. People work very hard to earn the money to buy our games, often in jobs they don’t like and we provide their escape. We, as we did when I first got involved 30 years ago back in 1994, want to make the best value for money games on the planet and provide people with a world where they can tell create football stories and live out their dreams. ​

“Making Football Manager more accessible – not just more accessible to play but accessible to more people – has been an eight-year journey that we’re still on. That’s meant adding language support in new territories, most notably in Japan, China and Korea with the end result being that Asia now makes up 20% of our audience. It’s meant different versions of the game for different audiences and we’ve also embraced third-party subscription platforms in a way that no other studio has.

“Our incredible growth in player numbers over the last few years, from celebrating two million players in 2020 to seven million in 2024, shows that not only has our strategy been working but also that as a studio, we’ve improved and grown across all disciplines. A team is all of its parts and I’m very proud, and very lucky, to get to lead such an amazing team whose talent and hard work has made our goals and aspirations a reality… and to have an incredible community of players that we first started talking to directly in the internet’s infancy in the early 90s.

“The hard work doesn’t stop here, though. There’s a lot more to come from us over the next few years, starting with FM25 and all that means with the move to Unity and introduction of Women’s Football. We’ve been releasing games for 33 years but what we’re doing now is setting things up for the next 30, where we expect to continue to innovate for decades to come.”

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About Sports Interactive™:

Sports Interactive (SI) is the world’s leading developer of immersive sports management simulations. Founded in 1994, SI became a wholly owned subsidiary of SEGA in 2006. Based in Stratford, East London, the SI team takes on the gaming genre through a diverse array of disciplines powered by more than 290 full-time staff members and support from a large global network comprising roughly 1,400 researchers. SI is an official partner of many major football clubs, leagues and organisations, including Manchester City, Brighton & Hove Albion, UEFA, the Bundesliga, LFP, the EFL and the League Managers Association, as well as numerous charities and not for profit organisations. Further information on the studio and its work can be found at www.sigames.com.

About Football Manager™:

Football Manager (FM) is the world’s leading football management simulation title and our iconic, award-winning series has captivated a global pool of players for two decades. FM takes players to the heart of the beautiful game and lets them create their own football story and live out their dreams as manager of their favourite club. With more than 50 of the top footballing nations to manage in and a database of more than 800,000 active players and staff from around the world of football, the game offers an unrivalled simulation experience. The game tasks players with making the key decisions at their club and forces them to responsible for them including transfer recruitment, tactical development and player development. Players must navigate the pressures of modern football by meeting their owner’s objectives and handle both the media and fan scrutiny that comes from performance on Matchday. FM has grown to become more than just a game and is now deeply embedded in the football industry with the FM database now powering the recruitment strategies of professional clubs around the world of football. The game has become an integral part of modern fan culture, shaping the discourse around the professional game. It has been the inspiration for several books, a stand-up comedy show and even a feature-length documentary. For more information on Football Manager, visit footballmanager.com.

About SEGA® Europe Ltd.:

SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA CORPORATION, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. SEGA wholly owns the video game development studios Two Point Studios, Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment, Amplitude Studios, Sports Interactive and HARDlight. SEGA Europe’s website is located at www.sega.co.uk