Football Manager 2019: No official eSports for FM19 but “watch this space”

Football Manager 2019 has been praised for its accessibility, new features connected to training and the new UI upgrades.

And while there will always be room for improvement, FM19 is shaping up to be a high point for the Sports Interactive series.

Fans have noted the changes made to the game so far, with plenty of feedback always available from the community.

It only takes a few minutes scanning the Steam reviews to show that fans are still craving changes to this and that, with some interested in what might be coming next.

The Express Online recently chatted with Miles Jacobson, the studio director of Sports Interactive, who has helped usher in the next instalment of the popular series.

And we asked a few questions on how Football Manager may change in the future, including if there are any plans for official eSports support.

Fans might be interested to learn that the new Fantasy Draft multiplayer mode is one of the most significant growth areas of the FM series.

Jacobson on multiplayer as a growth area for Football Manager:

“The biggest growth mode we have right now is Fantasy Draft. Career mode, the single-player mode, remains the most popular.

“It’s an online game you play against your friends, but you’re not managing a specific club so, it works much in the same way as Fantasy Football.

“It’s our fastest growing mode, and we have started to see people play that mode competitively as well, which is something very exciting.

“I don’t believe any video game can just declare itself an eSport, it’s the community that decides if it is an eSports or not.

“And I think we are going to see a lot of growth in that area in the next few years.”

The good news for fans who want to see more eSports support for Football Manager is that Sports Interactive is definitely interested.

That doesn’t mean we will see something announced for Football Manager 2019, but the future seems bright for competitive support.

“We don’t have any official tournaments, but we do help a lot of unofficial tournaments out,” Jacobson adds.

“It’s an area that is a growth area for us, and I believe it will be in the future as well.

“Watch this space. That is something for the future, not for FM19.”

Football Manager 2019 is out now on Steam and will remain a PC exclusive for the foreseeable future.

It probably helps to keep the core FM19 experience on one platform – there are other versions available on tablet and Mobile.

Football Manager 2019 Touch is available on PC and Mac as well as high-end iOS and Android tablets and Football Manager 2019 Mobile is available on iOS and Android devices.

The full release of FM19 includes a new match engine and updated player information to reflect the current footballing environment.

Furthermore, access to the Steam Workshop and both the pre-game and in-game editors are all now available.

The good news is that fans who have already started their managerial career on the pre-release Beta can carry their save over to the full game.