Football Manager 2024
Sports Interactive · Simulation, Sports, Strategy
Overview
Build a world-class team ready to dominate your rivals in football’s most prestigious competitions. Progress never stops when you’re pursuing footballing greatness.
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Step into the shoes of a real boss and write your own football story in Football Manager 2024, the most complete edition in the series yet.
Whether you’re a manager who likes to build from the bottom or prefers to chase immediate glory, the perfect challenge awaits. The arrival of the new Meiji Yasuda Insurance Ltd J. League licence unlocks J1 League, J2 League, J3 League for the first time ever, giving you the opportunity to explore new horizons in Japan.
Wherever you manage, it's up to you to build a team capable of competing with the world's elite.
Game Description
- Continue your relentless journey to the top of the footballing world by using the new ability to import your existing career from Football Manager 2023.
- Craft a winning tactical approach, incorporating modern football’s most popular systems and cutting-edge positional innovations to deliver victories on the pitch.
- Master the transfer market, using new ways to shape your side to cultivate a squad capable of achieving your goals.
- Level up your players on the training field, developing the mentality and teamwork needed to transform contenders into champions.
- See your tactical vision come to life on Matchdays, with every game elevated by improvements to ball and player movements.
TRUER FOOTBALL MOTION
Enhancements to player animations, ball physics and lighting deliver the most immersive Match Engine in Football Manager history. Move to the cutting edge of football by using the new Inverted Full-Back player role, while more intelligent player rotational movements add more fluidity to every highlight.
DOMINATE FROM SET PIECES
Make an impact at both ends of the pitch with an overhauled Set Piece Creator. Lean on the expertise of brand-new Set Piece Coaches to develop winning routines in every scenario that will help you to outsmart your rivals.
BRACE FOR TRANSFER BATTLES
Showcase your squad-building skills in our most refined transfer market yet. You’ll face a trickier battle for talent as your rival opposition managers are now more strategic than ever in their recruitment decision-making.
NEW AGENTS TO BUILD A DREAM SQUAD
Better shape your perfect squad with the introduction of new Intermediaries that will help you offload surplus players for a cut of the final transfer fee. Additional functionality for existing Agents and the debut of TransferRoom, a football marketplace for transfers in real life, gives you more real-world powered tools than ever to build an elite team and dominate the competition.
ELEVATE PERFORMANCES WITH TARGETS
Motivate your team to achieve more on and off the field by setting them individual Targets. Whether you’re focusing on goals scored in a season or average training performances, challenge your star players and top prospects to maximise their ability.
A HOST MORE ADDITIONS
Enjoy greater variety in every career with the arrival of two new game modes. Real World mirrors when players actually joined your club. Your World sets club squads and budgets at the day your career starts, meaning that only players who joined before that date will be in your squad, giving you the opportunity to rewrite your team’s transfer window.
Elsewhere, you can look to dominate international management and plan for your country's future with a revamped National Pool that gives you a better overview of the talent at your disposal. Match preparation and briefing meetings deliver you winning insights before each fixture.
That’s not all though, with many more changes waiting for you to discover in every career.
This version contains information that is still under approval process by rights holders and may contain data that does not, at this time, accurately reflect real world data. For context, some club and player assets may be absent during this version.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,999 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
Players love Football Manager 2024. Reviews praise how squad building, scouting, training, tactics and finances all feed into one club, the long careers that come out of it, and how hard it is to stop playing. About 190 reviews call it the best Football Manager ever made, and that claim turns up far more often in reviews written after FM26 arrived. From November 2025 on, a number of reviewers say they went back to FM24 for its older interface and skins, and a few for national-team management. Community mods and database updates keep it going, and players coming from FIFA and EA FC career modes often say it goes much deeper than those modes.
The match engine is the most frequent subject of the negative written reviews. They describe results that feel scripted, wasteful finishing against opposition keepers having the game of their lives, goals conceded late and a meta built on set pieces and gegenpressing. Crashes and broken saves come next, then player interactions and promises that spiral into squad unrest. Reviewers say an update in December 2024 replaced real club names, AC Milan and Inter among them, and the reviews written that week were the most negative since launch.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
Unmatched depth and realismHigh
Reviewers describe running a whole club, where recruitment, contracts, finances, staff, youth development and match-day tactics all affect results. One calls it an "Incredible game, the most complete version of Football Manager there has been". Players who came from EA's career mode make the comparison themselves: "FIFA's cool but Football manager starts where FIFA stops!" Several say the depth is what makes success feel earned, while a minority find it a burden (see "Where players are split").
Hard to put downHigh
Hundreds of reviews call the game addictive, usually as praise, and some joke about lost sleep, neglected families and the "one more match" loop. One longtime series player lays out the evening in steps: "Ok, just one more match. - I swear it is last!" A few negative reviews use the word too, some as a joke and some to say the habit has outlasted the fun.
The best Football Manager, and the one players returned to after FM26High
Some short reviews say only "Best FM of all time" or "peak". Early on, a few reviewers saw FM24 as the polished end of an era: "the culmination of about a 10 or so year cycle of FM releases". Roughly one in five reviews written from November 2025 on mention FM26, usually to say they prefer FM24. The interface is what they name most ("cleaner UX/UI, simpler navigation"), followed by support for skins and background images; a few add national-team management and the classic inbox. One reviewer who disliked FM26's menus wrote: "FM 24 is a thing of beauty".
Careers that turn into storiesMedium
Players write about taking non-league or lower-league sides to the top, unearthing wonderkids and nursing grudges against AI managers. "Glory to Chesterfield F.C. , from English League Two all the way to premier league champs in 6 seasons." Youth development and scouting come up often in these stories, and several reviewers describe getting attached to players they developed.
Mods and community updates keep it aliveMedium
Reviewers credit the Steam Workshop and community sites for real names, logos, kits, facepacks, skins and up-to-date databases, especially once there was no FM25: "Loads of database updates and mods done by community, makes it almost everlasting." Mods are also how players work around missing licences, though some newcomers resent needing mods to see real names at all.
Welcome new toolsLow
The set-piece creator and set-piece coaches, intermediaries for offloading players, the improved squad planner and data hub, and the option to carry a save over from FM23 all get specific praise. "The best feature by far is the ability to carry your FM23 save over."
Runs on modest hardwareLow
A handful of players say it runs well on old laptops and on Steam Deck: "It also runs great on Steam Deck."
Where players are split
The match engineHigh
Roughly 220 written reviews mention the match engine by name, in both positive and negative reviews. Some praise the new animations and more realistic movement: "This is the best the match engine has ever played." Even a negative review full of other complaints concedes "The match engine is much better this year. It actually looks and plays like real football." The engine and match results are also the most frequent subject of negative written reviews, which say outcomes feel scripted: dominating on xG and losing, opposition goalkeepers having career games, endless woodwork, goals conceded deep into stoppage time, and form collapsing at the same point each season. "Although it's not, FM24 feels like the match has been decided beforehand". Set pieces draw their own complaints (one reviewer renamed the game "Set-Pieces 24"), as do penalties, offsides and VAR decisions.
Complexity: rewarding or a second jobMedium
Some reviewers treat the learning curve as part of the appeal and advise easing in: "My tip- delegate as much as you can before you feel ready." Several fans fondly call it a "spreadsheet simulator". For a handful of negative reviewers the same quality is why they quit: one uninstalled it under that label, and another calls it an "email simulator. Like having a 2nd job, no feedback loop to learn from". A couple complain about clicking through menus, inbox messages and continue screens between matches.
Dated presentationMedium
Players disagree about how much the visuals matter. Some call the 3D view a big step up from earlier editions; others say it "looks and feels like it was made 10 years ago". A few players note there is no menu music or sound outside matches: "THERE IS NO SOUND BY DEFAULT."
Little change from earlier editionsMedium
Returning players disagree on whether FM24 was worth buying over FM22 or FM23. Critics call it "basically just a roster update for 60 Euro" and say long-standing problems carried over unchanged. Fans of the series answer that the small refinements add up ("Same formula, always a little bit better every year.") and that anyone skipping a few editions gets a lot. Several suggest buying on sale or only every few years.
One dominant tactical styleLow
Some players love building their own systems. Others say a high-pressing meta wins regardless of instructions, so creativity is not rewarded: "Gegenpress 4 at the back or nothing." A few on the other side say the game is too easy once you find a working tactic.
What frustrates players
Crashes, failed launches and lost savesMedium
Bugs and crashes come up in nearly a fifth of the negative written reviews. Reports range from crashes mid-match and games stuck on the loading screen to saves that will not load after hundreds of hours. "I've more crashes in 100 hours (32) then i've ever had in any of the previous titles combined." Others mention long-unfixed bugs: scouting focuses that stop returning players, transfer clauses that are ignored, team selection that will not update. Some positive reviewers report no problems at all, and several recommend saving often.
Player interactions, promises and contract demandsMedium
Among complaints about the management side, this one comes up most. Players describe squads that turn unhappy over rotation, stars demanding new deals soon after signing one, and promises the game marks as broken when they were kept: "Interactions/promises are completely broken to the point where most people just avoid them completely if poissible." Another reviewer wrote: "Star players asking for new contracts 6 months after having already asked for and received a new upgraded contract." Several say they bought the in-game editor just to fix unhappiness they consider unfair.
Updates that removed licensed contentMedium
Reviewers describe a December 2024 update, released after FM25 was pushed back, that replaced expired licences: AC Milan and Inter lost their real names, and some say saves broke. Reviews from May 2025 describe a second removal. Reviews about the changes cluster in those months and are mostly negative, and the week of 2 December 2024 fell to 70% positive, the lowest week with 100 or more reviews. "Removing previously purchased content at a later date is incomprehensible. Broken trust for the future." Their objection is to losing content from a game they already owned through a forced update. Some positive reviewers point out that mods restore the names.
InjuriesLow
Players say injuries pile up regardless of physios and sports scientists, often hitting key players before big games. "They should rename the game to Injury Manager 2024" One launch-month reviewer complained about goalkeeper injuries and later edited the review to say a patch fixed them.
Repetitive press conferencesLow
Media duties draw complaints for repeating the same questions season after season, from fans as well as critics. One positive review puts it plainly: "Press conferences still get samey unless you delegate".
AI squad building and transfer logicLow
Some reviewers say AI clubs mismanage their squads, ignore high-potential youngsters, bid far below value and rarely threaten a strong human manager: "AI teams are incapable of managing their rosters to remain competitive." Others find AI valuations and wage demands unrealistic.
The in-game editor costs extraLow
Some players object to paying separately for the in-game editor, which they use to fix data and morale problems. One short negative review asks: "Reduce the cost of the in-game editor or bundle it with the full game :)"
No official data update after FM25 was cancelledLow
Reviewers note there was no FM25, and some wanted an official squad refresh instead of relying on community databases. One negative review signs off with sarcasm: "much as i LOVE starting every new game in 2023 !!" A few later reviews also say the game was no longer sold on Steam once FM26 arrived, so new players needed a key from elsewhere.
3. The player conversation
The tone is warm. Most reviews are a few words long ("great game", "peak", "Best FM of all time"). The longer written reviews range from detailed love letters to detailed bug lists. Negative reviews are a small minority. Several dozen of them come from players who say they have played the series since the Championship Manager days, and they write about the match engine, player interactions and how little changes between editions. Negative reviews from players who stopped early are more about crashes, missing licences, or a game that turned out duller and more menu-heavy than they expected.
Sentiment was steady across the game's life, with dips at launch and in two later months. Launch-month reviews talked most about the reworked match engine, and some about early bugs. In early December 2024 the licence-removal update brought the steepest fall, and May 2025 saw a smaller one. After FM26 launched in November 2025, the conversation turned toward comparisons and reviews grew slightly more positive: 95% of reviews written after FM26's release recommend FM24 (834 of 878). Some reviewers say they went back to FM24 or plan to stay with it.
4. What the developers could do
- Make match results feel earned and explain them. The match engine is the most frequent subject of negative written reviews, which say outcomes feel scripted, citing xG dominance without goals, late concessions and set-piece-heavy scoring; some ask for clearer feedback on why a tactic failed.
- Fix crashes, launch failures and save corruption first. Crashes and broken saves are the top technical complaint, and some players describe losing long-running careers.
- Rework player interactions and promises. Reviewers want rotation, kept promises and recent contract renewals to be recognised so squad unrest does not feel random or punitive.
- Never remove owned content through forced updates. The licence-removal patches brought the steepest fall in sentiment, and some players asked to keep the version they bought, for example by making such updates optional.
- Ship an official data update when a yearly release is skipped. With no FM25, players relied on community databases, and some asked for an official squad refresh.
- Widen the range of tactics that work. Several reviewers say a high-pressing meta beats creative systems and that some instructions barely affect play.
- Refresh press conferences and tune injury rates. Repeated media questions and frequent injuries to key players are recurring irritations even in positive reviews.
- Include the in-game editor or lower its price. Some players use it to fix bugs and morale problems they consider unfair, and object to paying extra for that.
