Football Manager 27 Gameplay Deep Dive Focuses on Navigation and UI Improvements

SEGA and Sports Interactive have released the first gameplay deep dive for Football Manager 27, giving players an early look at some of the changes coming to navigation, screen layouts and customization. It’s the first of several feature breakdowns planned ahead of the game’s November launch, though an exact release date and supported platforms haven’t been announced yet.

A lot of the focus is on making FM easier to get around, with primary and secondary navigation now handled through menus across the top of the screen. Familiar areas like Squad, Tactics, Recruitment, Training and Club have also been cleaned up so players can get where they want with fewer steps, while more pop-ups have been replaced with full-screen views that make it easier to keep moving through the game.

Messages are getting some useful changes with more information shown directly inside them instead of making players jump to another screen. Scout reports can will appear right in the message, while transfer offers can be reviewed and handled from the same place, which should come in handy when several clubs are interested in the same player. Messages are also color-coded, making it a little easier to quickly spot what needs attention.

The interface will also do a better job of adjusting to different screen sizes and resolutions, whether someone is playing on a laptop or sitting in front of a 4K monitor. Tables and lists can make better use of the available space, additional scaling options have been added to the preferences menu and custom views are still there for anyone who likes to pack the screen with as much information as possible.

There are a few smaller quality-of-life additions mixed in too, including bookmarks that can be dragged into any order, text descriptions for the bookmark bar and fully customizable keyboard shortcuts. Players can also change where major sections open by default, so clicking Squad or Recruitment can take them straight to a preferred screen rather than always dropping them onto the standard overview.

Football Manager 27 builds on the interface introduced in FM26 while bringing back some of the familiar navigation ideas from earlier games in the series, with the overall goal of cutting down on unnecessary clicks and making information easier to find. There’s plenty more shown in the full gameplay deep dive video and feature blog, with Sports Interactive planning more breakdowns ahead of launch, including a closer look at the match UI and other new, improved and returning features.