FM26 debuts as the 10th most played game on Steam despite overwhelmingly negative reviews

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Okay, so Football Manager 26 just dropped, and it’s been a bit of a launch day rollercoaster! It’s the first new version in two years because they skipped FM25 last year. Like with any new game, there are definitely some bugs and issues popping up. But the weirdest thing is, a lot of us are scratching our heads trying to figure out how to use the in-game editor – some people even thought they’d removed it! Honestly, the launch of FM26 is a perfect example of a game getting mixed reviews but still being super popular. It’s wild!

Football Manager 26 hits top ten games on Steam despite overwhelmingly negative reviews

It’s no surprise that Football Manager is so popular worldwide. The latest version, FM26, recently reached a peak of over 83,000 players on Steam in a single day, and is still averaging over 80,000. That makes it the tenth most-played game on Steam right now, which is a great result for any game. However, the Steam reviews tell a slightly different story.

Currently, Football Manager 26 on Steam has mostly negative reviews – only 27% of players recommend it. However, it’s important to note that this is based on a relatively small number of reviews – around 2,000 – compared to the total player base. This highlights the importance of checking multiple sources and waiting before you buy, to get a more complete picture.

It’s still very early days for the game – less than 24 hours have passed – so both the review scores and player numbers are likely to change. Over the next couple of days, more reviews might bring the Steam score closer to an average rating. Alternatively, if most players quickly form a strong opinion, the number of people playing at the same time could decrease sharply in the coming days.

So, I’ve been checking out the review scores for Football Manager 26 on sites like Metacritic and OpenCritic, and they’re sitting around 73 and 72 right now. It’s still early days – these scores are just from critics at the moment – but it gives you another idea of how the game’s being received. Honestly, I’m expecting those scores to shift a bit by the end of the week as more reviews come in.

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2025-11-05 00:02