In less than two months two new pieces of hardware will enter the gaming space ushering in a new generation after seven years with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. As it is with any generation change, developers are utilizing both existing player bases and those upgrading to spread as far across the market. Yet, for one developer its annual simulation franchise will be skipping out on a set of consoles

Football Manager 2021 is set to release this November on PC with a Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series version following in December. Noticeably absent from the list of planned platforms are Sony consoles with the PlayStation 4 and upcoming PlayStation 5 not getting the next franchise entry. Amid confusion from Football Manager fans over the omission of the PlayStation family of consoles, developer Saber Interactive provided reasoning for the decision.

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According to Saber Interactive, the decision to not bring Football Manager 2021 to the PlayStation consoles was not actually what the developer wanted. In a series of tweets, studio director Miles Jacobson gave those upset over the platform selection a frank response. According to the developer, the sole reason that Football Manager is not coming to PlayStation is because Sony did not provide the team with Dev Kits. Jacobson noted that Saber Interactive requested dev kits for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 but were subsequently not given one to use.

In Jacobson's first tweet, they state that Xbox had been persistent on requests for the Football Manager franchise to "come back to their consoles." Jacobson explains that it was because of this interest from Microsoft that Football Manager 19 and Football Manager 20 made it to Game Pass. It was after this initial tweet that many unaware fans questioned why Saber Interactive could not just port the game to PlayStation without Sony's assistance. This prompted Jacobson to explain the procedure of dev kits and authorization required in the porting process.

Jacobson did provide further update to make it clear that his series of tweets were simply intended to explain why Football Manager 2021 would not be on PlayStation, not a means to push the blame onto Sony. The developer understood that dev kits are in limited supply, thus Sony would have to prioritize where PlayStation 5 dev kits are sent out to.

With the next entry of the franchise set for release soon, Football Manager 2020 has made headlines recently for a successful free promotion on the Epic Games Store. With so many more players able to test the waters with what the simulation is all about, it might be the best way to see if Football Manager 2021 might be worth the investment. Although some fans might be holding off until its confirmed if the next game will feature a popular team after Manchester United sued publisher Sega over trademark infringement.

Football Manager 2021 will launch for PC on November 24, followed by Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch releases in December. A version for iOS and Android is also in development.

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Source: Eurogamer