The new Football Manager 27 game will be free to play on PC and console, Sports Interactive has announced.

After huge backlash from players of Football Manager 26, the studio is offering fans the chance to play the game for five days before they decide to buy, scrapping the traditional pre-order process for the game in the hope of luring back players.

Priced at £45.99, the game has already been reduced to less than £30 on games website Loaded, and now there is a chance to try for five days before you buy.

The game will be available to play from 6pm on 29 October and it will be available until 3 November on Steam, Epic, the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.

The move comes after a difficult few years for the studio, which was forced to cancel Football Manager 25 after attempting to move the football management sim to a new game engine but running out of time to release a completed game.

A year later it did release Football Manager 26 but the game was widely criticised for its clunky user experience and lack of features, with popular game modes including International management stripped out of the game.

In an effort to claw back trust in the world’s best-selling football management game franchise, Sports Interactive says:

“Your first big call of the season is made easier this year as Football Manager 27 will be free to play on PC and Mac from 29 October to 3 November.

“There’s no additional sign-up required – you can simply download from your preferred platform and begin converting your beliefs into dugout decisions with all game modes available.”

Sports Interactive says the free trial will be much closer to the finished game than previous Beta versions of the game and will come with a host of new features.

They include a new tactical overhaul allowing managers to implement an overarching tactical vision across the club, improved match day graphics, more live match day tactical tweaks, and better data insights.

Football Manager 27 will launch on 29 October and players can pre-order the game at a discount here. The full game launches on 10 November.

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