These guys are only cheering because they pre-ordered the Xbox version (pic: Sports Interactive)

Due to ‘unforeseen complications,’ Football Manager’s PlayStation debut will have to come later than planned.

For years, the Football Manager series was primarily a PC exclusive, but has slowly but surely been breaking into the console market.

After several years of Nintendo Switch releases, the series came to the Xbox platform in 2020, and was finally going to make its PlayStation debut with this year’s entry, Football Manager 2023.

While that’s still the plan, Sega and Sports Interactive have dropped the unfortunate news that the game’s PlayStation 5 launch needs to be pushed back.

This comes only a week before Football Manager 2023’s launch. The PlayStation 5 version is the only one being delayed, since the Xbox, Switch, PC, and mobile releases will go ahead as scheduled.

Sega and Sports Interactive haven’t gone into too much detail as to why this is. All they’ve said is that the delay was caused by ‘unforeseen complications which have arisen during the submissions and approvals process.’

That’s an usual explanation for any developer, but it brings to mind the complaints Sports Interactive voiced about how unhelpful Sony had been in the past, not providing devkits to the developer or doing anything to help them support the PlayStation format.

Hopefully this isn’t a case of Sony being vindicative but it is likely that Sports Interactive’s unfamiliarity with Sony’s processes may have caused the delay.

From the sound of things, this wasn’t a last minute issue and is something Sports Interactive has been trying to get resolved for weeks to avoid delaying the game.

‘We’re devastated by this outcome, which we have worked tirelessly with our partners for a number of weeks to try to address,’ explains Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson.

‘It was especially difficult to make the decision to delay, as it involves holding back a great game which a number of talented people within Sports Interactive have worked tremendously hard on for quite some time.

‘We will continue to do everything in our power to get this game into the hands of PS5 gamers as soon as we can.’

Football Manager 2023 – there’s no guarantee the PS5 version will be out before the end of the year (pic: Sports Interactive)

Sega and Sports Interactive already intend on cancelling all digital PlayStation 5 pre-orders of the game and providing a full refund to customers.

They also insist that customers don’t need to do anything themselves to apply or receive the refund; the process will be handled automatically.

However, they couldn’t provide any hint of a new release window, so it’s unclear if it will be out before the end of the year or be pushed into 2023.

More: Gaming

Football Manager 2023’s PlayStation release isn’t the only first for the series. It is also making its first appearance on Apple Arcade, which thankfully hasn’t been delayed and will launch alongside the rest.

Just like FIFA 23, it’s also believed that Football Manager 2023 will introduce women’s football teams to the series.

However, there still doesn’t appear to an official confirmation for this, though Sports Interactive did promise last year that it was working on incorporating women’s football. You can find out for sure though, in our review tomorrow.

Football Manager 2023 launches for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PC, iOS, Android, and Apple Arcade on November 8.

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Due to ‘unforeseen complications,’ Football Manager’s PlayStation debut will have to come later than planned.