The official Football Manager 2021 release date is now available, sure, but we've still got a huge number of questions about the game! Thankfully, it was just recently that a big feature list video came out. Naturally, we prepared a short analysis of the thing for your reading pleasure. Find it a bit further below!

We're pretty big fans of the Football Manager franchise here at 2Game. From giveaways all the way to deals, discounts, guides, and summaries: Football Manager is usually one of our most eagerly-awaited releases of the year. Just below, you'll find all the up-to-date information we've got on FM21. This includes - but isn't limited to -  pricing, features, consoles, supported stores, and heaps more. Let's get to it!

Football Manager 2021 Release Date: is it being pushed back?

EDIT: We now know for sure that Football Manager 2021 is coming out on November 24th. This also means that the game's standard beta access will likely kick-off on the 10th(ish). It usually starts around two weeks' worth of time before the official launch. Now that you know what the actual release date is, jot it down so you don't lose track of it!

ORIGINAL: Yes, you read that right: the latest official word from developers about the Football Manager 2021 release date is that it's being postponed. As you've probably guessed by now, the ongoing pandemic is what we should be blaming: "It’s not just been harder from a production perspective – it doesn’t help that the world of football that we aim to simulate in our games is also in such a world of flux. Some leagues have confirmed their plans, some are still up in the air (although we are very much ‘in the loop’ with many of the possible decisions), the transfer window has moved in England at least, there are new emergency rules that may, or may not, be present next season. And there’s a lot more besides," said studio director Miles Jacobson.

"That all said, the team have done an absolutely incredible job in the circumstances and I couldn’t be prouder of them or prouder to be a part of the team."

Jacobson's somber note continued as the post went on: "We’ve been very quiet about future plans throughout this period, but then I never like us to talk about our plans until everything is definitively settled," he said. "What I can confirm today is that, despite all the problems going on in the world, there will be new Football Manager games released later this year. They will be delivered a little later than we’d originally planned, but they’ll have exceptionally strong feature sets… albeit different to those we thought we’d settled on back in January when I completed my ‘dream feature set’." More on that below.

Do we know the Football Manager 2021 Price?

You won't be surprised to hear that there's been no mention of an official confirmation for the Football Manager 2021 price. This type of information is usually the last to drop in a game's pre-release hype-up period. Naturally, we can look at previous games in the franchise for an answer, though!

Last year's offering - Football Manager 2020 - was priced at £39.99 / €54.99. We fully expect for FM21 to follow this convention, too.  Having said that, we might get something a bit different this time around. According to Miles Jacobson, this year's iteration of the team's flagship franchise is going to take things to a whole new level! "Our games will be on more platforms and available on more stores than ever before," he said.

Football Manager 2020 launched on Nintendo Switch the last time around, so we're thinking Jacobson's got some pretty big plans for 2021!

Wait, what? Does that mean Football Manager 2021 PS4 and Xbox One could be coming?

We very much think so! Now, the obvious caveat is that instead of the main game, consoles might get the Touch build instead. Having said that, we don't believe this is what would happen. With the clear focus on deploying a quality experience across more platforms and storefronts than ever before, going with the simplified Touch version for most of them would be a mistake.  We'll see, though!

Football Manager 2021 System Requirements

We wouldn't expect for Football Manager 2021 system requirements to be much of an issue for just about anyone. After all, look at FIFA 21, which is supposed to be on the cutting edge of graphics, far as football games go. If that thing runs on a recommended GTX 670 from 8 years ago, we're sure FM21 will run on last week's bagel, if need be. Having said that, here's what the PC system requirements were for FM20:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 7 (SP1), 8/8.1, 10 (Update 1803/April 2018 or later) – 64-bit
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 (64-bit), Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 – 2.2 GHz +
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 – 256MB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 7 GB available space

So, as we said: long as you've got a PC and a tiny bit of free storage space, chances are that Football Manager 2021 will run like a dream.

Football Manager 2021 Features: is anything new coming?

We're happy to offer a resounding yes to this question! If you're hunting for specifics, though, tough luck. Here's what we've got to go on, so far: "I firmly believe you’ll all appreciate the improvements and new features this year," said Jacobson. "[FM21 games] will have exceptionally strong feature sets… albeit different to those we thought we’d settled on back in January when I completed my ‘dream feature set’."

FM21 Feature Trailer

It's been a long time coming, but we've finally caught a glimpse of FM21's genuinely novel feature-set. Watch the trailer below to see what's up:

That's a lovely hype video, isn't it? If you - like us - haven't been keeping a close eye on Football Manager's evolution over the years, however, chances are that it doesn't tell you all that much. This is where our short and to-the-point summary comes in. Find the really important info in the bullet-points below.

• Targeted player search functionality: you can now ask for your Director of Football to inform you of player contracts' expiration dates and for advice on match tactics, among other stuff
• Ask players' agents for availability: what it says on the tin - you can now ask specific players' agents on when they will become available for bidding, which will let you plan your strategy way further ahead
• Media interaction overhaul: screenshots suggest as much, though we don't know exactly what this will mean in practical terms
• More pre-match tactical advice: better and more detailed preparation schemes are always a welcome addition
• Fine control over your manager's interaction with players: we'll now be able to exert very detailed control over our in-game avatars, even going so far as to let us tweak body language and more
• Improved statistical summaries of every played match: simple, but crucial
• Greatly improved 3D match renditions: better graphics ahoy - not that GPU horsepower has ever played much of a role in Football Manager, but it's nice to see that devs are keeping up with the latest tech developments regardless

And there you have it, folks. That's about all we've caught a whiff of so far, but we'll stay on top of things as they come along.

Football Manager 2021 Touch and Football Manager 2021 Mobile: What do we know?

Developers have not made their plans clear for these two "lite" versions of the game. We can, however, present our expectations based on historical data!

Every year up 'till this one, Sports Interactive has gone to great lengths to ensure that even the simpler of their titles offer immense depth and interactivity virtually every step of the way. There's no reason to assume that Football Manager 2021 Touch would work differently! We do, however, expect great improvements on the UI and visual presentation side of things. There was still much to be desired on that front in the previous builds, after all. We'll keep you posted on more as we get it!

Wrap-up!

Things are finally looking up. The proper Football Manager 2021 release date is now known. Better yet, we even have an idea of what new features and baseline improvements we are to expect come November 24th! Even though the COVID-related pushback did sadden us, it's good to hear that the devs managed to find their stride regardless. We're looking forward to playing their new release. You are, too, we bet!

We'll continue to update this article with more information as it comes out. In the meantime, perhaps you'd be interested in reading what we know about FIFA 21 on PC? We've also got a similar article on Elden Ring! Be sure to check that out if you're into ARPGs!

For those in a retro sort of mood, Destroy All Humans Remake is now out. However, if you - like us - are still stuck killing ontologically impossible monstrosities across time and space in Othercide, our guide might help out with that! Don't forget about FIFA 21, either.