After weeks of ‘announce the Beta’ comments flooding the Football Manager social media accounts, Sports Interactive and SEGA Europe Ltd. can finally announce that the pre-release public Beta of Football Manager 2020 is available on PC and Mac.
Anyone who has pre-purchased FM20 from a SEGA-approved digital retailer* can log into Steam and launch the Beta from their Steam library, right now. It’s not too late to get access to the pre-release Beta either; as anyone who pre-purchases FM20 on PC and Mac between now and the game’s release on Tuesday, November 19th (from a participating digital retailer) will see the Beta immediately added to their Steam library.
The pre-release Beta is a near complete (but not quite final) version of the game, so players may encounter some bugs and issues during play. These can be reported directly to the Sports Interactive team via the ‘Report Bug’ button on the in-game sidebar. Online play is also enabled, but there will be no access to the Steam Workshop or either the pre-game or in-game editors until the game’s full release on November 19th.
With new features concentrating on player development (through the Playing Time Pathway and Development Centre) and each club’s unique identity (via Club Vision), FM20 looks set to be the most engrossing entry in the long-running series’ history.
“The Beta should have been out on November 5th,” says Sports Interactive gaffer, Miles Jacobson. “But given how many of this year’s features are aimed at long-term play, we wanted to give people an extra weekend to play and get their feedback in. This will help us with the final development push for polish ahead of the release on the 19th, for what is already the best game in the series.”
All players, including the more casual, can look forward to a raft of quality of life improvements that will make their lives easier and help them get the most out of their time on the game, alongside a number of great graphical and AI changes in the famed Football Manager match engine.
Single player careers that are started on the pre-release Beta can be carried over to the full release, making this the perfect time for managers to kick-off their long-term saves.
Play the interactive campaign video for FM20 right here to get a taste.
