Three Football Manager games announced for 2015
FM Classic renamed FM Touch, now a standalone game on PC as well.
There are three Football Manager games due out this year: Football Manager 2016, Football Manager Touch and Football Manager Mobile.
Football Manager Touch is what used to be called Football Manager Classic. It's included in Football Manager 2016 and it will also be available to buy separately, both on high-end tablets and on PC/Mac. Football Manager Mobile is what used to be called Football Manager Handheld.
Football Manager 2016 will be released 13th November on PC and Mac, but the standalone version of FM Touch won't be out until closer to Christmas (no specific date). FM Mobile will be out at a similarly unspecified time, on most iOS and Android devices.
New in Football Manager 2016 is the Fantasy Draft mode that lets you create your own club and take part in a mini-league with friends - if you have them. Apparently this supports up to 32 players. You can use your Create-a-Club team in an existing league too, you cheat! There's also a customisable 'manager on the touchline' character who will sing out your orders and join in celebrations.
The annual beef-up of the 3D match engine boasts more than 2000 new animations, and offers more control from set pieces as well as a new highlights package. Sports Interactive has shared a few videos on Instagram of the new match engine in action.
Football Manager Touch has cross-save support to take your game from computer to tablet. It also benefits from the 3D match engine improvements and has Create-a-Club mode, too.
Football Manager Mobile now allows you to select players to steer your team's attacks through - your best players - and has greater tactical depth. There are coaches, and there's a tiered gold/silver/bronze managerial system to put greater emphasis on certain areas of the game - attacking, defending, etc.
"For some time now it's been clear to us that there is no 'one size fits all' football management experience," said Miles Jacobson, Sports Interactive studio manager. "While a huge number of our fans have the time and dedication required to devote themselves to the full simulation, there's an equally-large number who prefer a more streamlined option. Not only that, but the widespread availability of mobile devices means that people are playing in different ways. The introduction of Football Manager Touch as a standalone offering - playable across computer and tablet - means that we now offer something for everyone."
If you pre-order FM 2016 from a digital retailer such as Steam, you'll get access to a beta version of the game a couple of weeks before release.