FIFA Manager 14 will be last in EA's football management series

While I do love spreadsheets, I don't really care about football. Given that, I've never particularly followed the football management genre. My knowledge of the games that make up this sim subset comes entirely from conversations I've overheard. Those conversations were exclusively about Championship Manager. Then, when Sports Interactive moved from that series to Football Manager, that became the sports-flavoured bar-chart simulator of choice. All of which means I've only now learned that EA's FIFA Manager existed via the news that EA's FIFA Manager is going to stop being a thing that exists.

The announcement was made through an open letter by the series' founder, Gerald Köhler.

"Today I'm writing to tell you that FIFA MANAGER 14 will be the last instalment of the football simulation series marketed by EA SPORTS. This is was a very tough decision, so I want to take the time to explain it. This probably comes as a big disappointment to many of you, and it is understandable that you would ask why.

"The football manager genre at this level of sophistication is highly specialised and primarily played in two countries (England and Germany), in which – on top of everything – one game has practically dominated the market in recent years. The niche market and general trend toward online and mobile games were also contributing factors. Moreover, FM had reached a crossroads at which a new engine and/or corresponding online technology would be the only way to give the series a boost. When all these factors were evaluated, it led us to the decision to blow the final whistle."

You can read Köhler's full statement through the FIFA Manager 14 site . The gist, though, is that it's being discontinued because most people only talk about or play Football Manager. While FIFA Manager has never been critically praised (especially outside of Germany), its death does leave Sports Interactive's series essentially unopposed, which is a strange if inevitable consequence of their continued dominance as a populist entry in a niche genre.

Thanks, CVG .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.