Uh-oh... Football Manager 26 beta first impressions have fans saying the same thing

For the first time in two years, gamers are finally able to get their hands on a new Football Manager game with Football Manager 26 Advanced Access Beta now available.

But fans have had similar gripes about it so far, with some even saying they've refunded the game because it hasn't met their expectations.

Football Manager 26 Advanced Access Beta went live at 8pm BST on Thursday (23 October). It's the first game in the series since Football Manager 2024 and a lot of eyes are on the latest football management simulation entry following the cancellation of Football Manager 25 earlier this year.

Over the past couple of months or so, studio Sports Interactive has shown off how the game has been completely overhauled, with a brand new game engine, a revamped user interface (UI) and loads more.

But it's the UI that's not going down well as a number of gamers have said online that they've been unable to find sections they want or that they have encountered a number of bugs.

Popular X / Twitter account Out of Context Football Manager posted the meme of the horse drawing with match engine at one end and UI at the other with the caption: "Initial impression."

The same user followed that up with another Tweet that said: "Ok I've played a few hours of Football Manager now, here are my thoughts... Graphically - it's GREAT! If the game stopped here I think we'd all be happy, looks a step above any game before. But the UI? Jesus Christ. Too many clicks, not intuitive enough, lots of lag. I've been playing Football Manager for nearly 20 years now and I feel like I've never played it before. I get it - we want to appeal to console - but if I'm struggling... I'm guessing a lot of other people are as well."

Another said: "Refund requested, I think that's the end of Football Manager as we know it. What a f****** shame. First FM since the franchise launched that I won't play. The UI is aimed at console players, it's absolutely hideous and that's just the start of it."

This is also the general mood in the footballmanagergames Subreddit too.

The biggest trending post is from a Redditor who shared a screenshot from someone understood to be a games developer that said: "It feels like it needs months of work for QoL and styling fixes alone. Icons blurry, things not centred, dropdowns are a mess..." The Redditor captioned the screenshot: "This is exactly how I feel about FM26."

And a lot more agree in the comments.

One who says they are a game developer commented: "As a dev, I agree that this isn't something they can polish in 12 days, there's a lot of work to be done."

A second said: "I haven't even played the first pre-season match yet and I've already seen about 10 bugs. This isn't a beta, it's an alpha at best."

"This games needs a ton of polish. I thought that's what the extra year was about," a third mused.

Other posts in the Subreddit show bugs that some gamers have encountered.

One showed what happened when they brought a player off the bench - only for them to take to the pitch in their full tracksuit.

Another showed what happened when they tried to change their team's crossing style, with the user unable to choose anything other than the 'low crosses' option.

And a third showed the UI moving around as they were trying to use it.

But others have said they have not experienced these kinds of issues and really like what they've played so far.

A Redditor posted: "Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones. UI hasn't been laggy for me, graphics are fine, I personally don't find it too click intensive and I've only come across one or two bugs in a couple hours of playtime so far."

In the comments, one said: "I can't say that I like it yet but I definitely don't hate it like a lot of people seem to do."

And another agreed: "Honestly, I think it's fine. Is it a little buggy in places? Yes. Is it a massive change and is taking me way longer to navigate? Yes. Do I see what they are going for and think the issues will be fixed with getting used to it and some QoL changes? Also yes."

Upon the beta being available, Sports Interactive said: "The UI has been completely reinvented and although it may take some more seasoned players time to become accustomed, we truly believe it will make your experience smoother and more enjoyable as you get used to it.

"Please note that as this is a beta version, you may encounter some bugs and glitches that our developers will be working tirelessly to address in future updates."

Football Manager 26 Advanced Access Beta is out now and can be played on PC via Steam or Epic Games by pre-purchasing through a SEGA approved retailer.

Football Manager 26 on PC and Mac, Football Manager 26 Console on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Game Pass, Football Manager 26 Touch through Apple Arcade and Football Manager 26 Mobile through Netflix all release on 4 November. Football Manager 26 Touch releases on Nintendo Switch on 4 December.

indy100 has contacted Sports Interactive for further comment.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Football Manager 26 studio turned down FIFA World Cup mode at first for this reason
• FPL Gameweek 9 preview: Every player you need to think about

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