Football Manager 27 will be free for five days before its full release, an “industry first” for a game of this type

You can play Football Manager 27 on PC and Mac for free this year for five full days later this month, a first for the series and apparently an “industry first” for games of this type.

The free period itself will begin on October 29 at 6 p.m. GMT and run until the start of its typical paid “launch preview” period on November 3, which is available to those who pre-order the game before its full launch on November 10.

“Making an annual title free-to-play with all game modes available is considered an industry first and a move that continues Sports Interactive’s efforts to support its gaming community,” a press release from the studio said.

FM27 pre-orders, meanwhile, will only open at the same time as the free play period, where players can purchase at a 10% discount to gain access to the aforementioned launch preview. Your saves will also continue during all these periods in the full game, which is a nice idea, and the same for those playing on Xbox Game Pass.

The news comes in an unusually quiet pre-launch period for developer Sports Interactive, and after the particularly difficult year of FM26, which, despite stable player numbers, still sits at a “mostly negative” Steam user score, almost a year after launch.

This game was the first in two years, after Sports Interactive took the extraordinary step of canceling the release of FM25 while moving the game to the Unity game engine from its own in-house game engine. The result was new systems that, according to the developer, were not possible in previous versions of the game – notably the rather sophisticated system of separating formations and tactics in and out of possession – at the expense of a large number of classic features that the developer was unable to implement in time. That, and a reworked “cards and tiles” UI that I and a very large number of players found a bit of a nightmare to navigate.

It all makes for a huge year for the franchise. FM27 promises “an improved interface with more intuitive navigation, creating a more immersive experience”, as well as several new features such as Tactical Tweaks, which complement the old touch line shout system. Their success will likely have a major impact on fans’ trust in the studio after a rough few years. This five-day free period at least suggests that Sports Interactive is feeling confident.