FM27: A Deeper, More Immersive Football World

A perspective on global football

For you to better and more easily explore the world around you, we needed to elevate news and the broader football picture in FM27; both in terms of how it’s presented to you and in the content you see as your career develops.

News content has been refreshed, developed and expanded for every part of the season. Whether it’s club season previews, mid-season check-ins, job speculation or title run-in previews, the headlines and stories you encounter make the phases of a season or tournament come to life and feel more distinct.

In-game media sources will now consistently report on more engaging stories, all housed within redesigned News screens and often presented directly to you in Messages.

Previously, the ‘For You’ system populated all the content you saw in the News menu. This was an attempt to combine the various types of news into one approach that always showcased something interesting.

This has now been reworked, with distinct separation between the ‘For You’ content tailored to your interests and further news on both transfers and updates from around the world of football. In turn this means more depth and variety, triggering a familiar sense of discovery and curiosity within your save universe.

Redesigned menus for smoother exploration

It’s not just the News screens that have been redesigned for FM27: we’ve taken a fresh perspective on the Club, Competition and Nation screens, too.

For all of them, and FM27 overall, there has been a clear focus on capturing what has already happened, what is happening now, what will happen next alongside who the key people are in this area. This gives you key information and context more quickly about individual entities, something we know you value and was made possible by the enhancements introduced to the secondary navigation bar.

So, in the Club screen, you now get an immediate picture of the identity and history of that side as well as contemporary information on their manager, top scorers, key performers, latest transfers and news.

When looking at a Competition, whether it’s one you’re in or not, you’ll now see more clearly the key details: results, upcoming fixtures, key people, the current holders and dynamic data points like the statistical leaders and the team of the week – ideal for adding new talents to your scouting shortlist.

Those dynamic data points are part of a wider effort to make statistics more visible in your overall experience.

Our Match Engine deep dive will reveal more on how this comes to life in the Data Hub and during matches, but with the return of Heat Maps, game-wide you’ll have more technical information available to inform your critical decision-making.

The new Competitions Hub gives you a snapshot of how things are shaping up in the various leagues you have loaded in your save, giving you a more direct path to dig deeper and explore.

There are further examples throughout the game. The Nation screen is now much more familiar, while top rumours and done deals are now highlighted at the top of the Transfers screen.

Player Profiles have also had an uplift. Ensuring you can see the full context of a player’s journey at any point is essential, with Career History now restored to being a full-screen experience. Combined with the introduction of quick flicks, you’ve got the power to easily and intuitively cycle through both your squads and those of your rivals.

These screen composition, design and content changes have been tackled with discovery in mind. By making them easier to navigate, you’ve got a more natural and rewarding journey of exploration when you click continue and come across a new piece of information. The same principles will apply whether you’re gearing up for your first pre-season or checking in on your old club 15 seasons in.

The magic of the cup (draws)

Beyond screen redesigns, there are also features returning this year that we heard clearly are integral to your gameplay experience and world immersion.

Cup Draws are back in a familiar format, starting with a message that takes you into a draw flow with a host. Within this you’ve got options to draw the next team, draw everyone and increase the speed of the automatic draw functionality. Rather than your next assignment now coming to you in a message, you’ll once again get that feeling of seeing your team’s name come out of the proverbial hat – whether it’s to play your local rivals or to take on a possible giant-killing.

Deadline Day and Transfer Market Behaviour

Joining Cup Draws in a return to the core experience is a restored Transfer Deadline Day that better captures the sense of occasion as you’re looking to get those last-minute deals over the line.

This work is part of a wider focus into transfers and transfer AI behaviour. So, for example, you’ll now see Agent Offers visible and active on the Recruitment screen throughout the window rather than just appearing on Deadline Day itself. They’ll ramp up as it gets to the business end of the window, but it won’t feel like they come out of nowhere anymore.

Elsewhere, you’ll notice a change in the priorities and behaviours of some young players when they’re moving. Now, just as in real life, the “treat club as a stepping stone” promise has more value in contract negotiations as young players will now consider game time a lot more when looking at a transfer – fantastic if you’re building your way up the leagues.

The priorities and approaches of other clubs have changed now too. If a player has a sell-on fee in their contract, this will now be surfaced in Scout Reports and you’ll notice that clubs will want more money for those players to ensure that they don’t miss out financially.

Similarly, the target shortlists of AI managers and Directors of Football have been re-evaluated to better account for how they prioritise experience and leadership in the dressing room. If it’s important to them, you might see them behave differently in the market to better help with squad development.

These changes, combined with the introduction of Squad Cost Ratio rules and readjustments to global spending, all create more depth, accuracy and believability throughout your saves.

More control over what you see - and how often you see it

Beyond those game features that connect you to the wider world are the things you stumble upon as you progress through your save.

This behaviour and invitation to discovery has been restored in FM27 with changes to the way the game processes. Now, when you click continue, you’ll now regularly land in different game areas outside of your Portal, thereby increasing the depth and breadth of the screens and information you see.

That’s not all, though. Existing processing logics have also been exposed within a new Continue Flow system that you’ll be able to access when you begin your first career.

Within this, there are three preset flows that determine the pace and frequency of updates you see. For those of you that like to speed through the weeks toward match days, the Streamlined option offers fewer breaks. Balanced and Comprehensive meanwhile will give you more insights and information as they happen.

There is then a fourth option, Custom, which allows you to customise how the game moves forward. How often do you want the game to stop to go through your messages? How often do you want to see certain results, fixtures or news updates?

Beyond this, there’s also a setting for how the Continue Button performs based on your feedback. Now, you can choose whether you want it to be used to go through your messages or continue with unread messages.

If you want to change any of these settings as your save progresses, you’re free to do so as you can alter these and swathes of other extra details within the Preferences menu.

Combining with the other preference changes, adaptive layout work and the introduction of tile swapping showcased in the navigation deep dive, these processing changes give you the power to tailor your experience based on your style and what’s more important to you. We’ll set the starting point, but just as there are new settings allowing you to change where you land in each key screen, it’s over to you to determine how you want to play.

From major screen redesigns and the evolution of news content to returning elements like Cup Draws and Transfer Deadline Day, FM27 delivers greater depth and immersion from day one in the dugout.

Your game world will feel bigger and more alive, with your decisions and explorations feeling more consequential to what’s happening around you.

In our next deep dive, we’ll be showcasing the improvements to every aspect of the Match Day experience that elevate the atmosphere and create a better sense of time and place.