Update due out this winter on PC, Mac and Linux also promises improvements to tactics and transfer negotiations
Sports Interactive has announced Football Manager 14, the latest addition to the long-running management simulation series. Due out this winter on PC, Mac and Linux, the game will feature "more than 1,000 improvements", including updates to the 3D match engine, tactics and the all-important transfer negotiations.
In a first for the series, FM 2014 is set to feature "cloud save", allowing fans to pick up and play a single career from any computer to which they have access. Offices around the world should probably already be taking steps to block it from their work machines. Football Manager is well known for its addictive qualities – a fact currently being celebrated in Tony Jameson's Edinburgh Fringe comedy show, Football Manager Ruined My Life.
The title is also supporting Steam Workshop, a selection of tools that enable player-created content for compatible games. FM 2014 owners will be able to edit and supply their own logos and photos as well as set up custom tournaments and in-game challenges.
Elsewhere, there are further refinements to the contract and transfer negotiation and media elements. Managers are able to drill right down into player deals, with more complex cash and loan offers, a live transfer system and the ability to loan back transferred players to their old clubs – a feature perhaps inspired by Manchester United's signing of Wilfried Zaha in January, which involved him being lent back to his old club Crystal Palace for the rest of the season. Developer Sports Interactive has also promised to evolve the user interface with new pages for transfers, training and news.
Finally, the press release promises that "the language employed throughout the game has also enjoyed a major overhaul and now corresponds more closely to the language of real world football." Fans will no doubt be over the moon.
