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Football Manager 2017 - When will we get to play it on mobile?

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Football Manager 2017 - When will we get to play it on mobile?

Football Manager 2017 hits PC and Mac this week, to much general excitement among footy fans. This has been the undisputed king of footy management games ever since Sports Interactive took up the Football Manager name back in 2004.

Prior to that, the British developer had been releasing its dauntingly deep simulators under the Championship Manager name. That brand lives on under series publisher Eidos, but make no mistake - it's Football Manager that continues the original Champ Manager lineage set forth in 1992.

Brief history lesson aside, the question many of you will doubtless be asking right now is: 'when will we get to play Football Manager 2017 on mobile'?

The answer isn't quite as simple as the question would have you believe, for a couple of reasons. First a brief explanation of what we mean when we talk about playing Football Manager on mobile.

Two up front

There are actually two completely separate Football Manager games for mobile devices: Football Manager Mobile, and Football Manager Touch.

Football Manager Mobile is a greatly simplified version of the game built for mobile phones. It's pretty good at what it does, offering a relatively intuitive management experience that fits on even older 4-inch iPhones. But it doesn't really present the essence of the source game in all its labyrinthine depth. In particular, its UI and its tactical options aren't as sophisticated as the real deal.

That's where Football Manager Touch comes in. It's a fairly recent arrival on the scene (we've had two versions to date), and it presents a stripped back version of the core game itself that's been honed for iPad and high-end Android tablets.

Part of the appeal of Football Manager Touch is that it also exists as a stand-alone game for PC, Mac, and Linux, so you can continue your season seamlessly at home.

So now you know what the situation is with mobile Football Manager. When are the 2017 versions of these two games going to arrive?

Football Manager Mobile 2017

We have a specific date for Football Manager Mobile 2017 - November 17. That's just under two weeks on from the November 4 release of Football Manager 2017 on PC and Mac.

However, Sports Interactive hasn't been quite so clear with the launch details of Football Manager Touch 2017. Still, we think we have a date for that too.

Football Manager Touch 2017

Let's face it, this is the one we're really interested in. Football Manager Touch 2016 was the real deal last year, greatly refining the first Touch experience for mobile play. We're intrigued to see how Sports Interactive carries it forward.

So when are we likely to see Football Manager Touch 2017? It should be this Friday, but the press message has hardly been crystal clear on this one.

Sports Interactive and Sega have said that Football Manager Touch 2017 will be available for PC and Mac on the same day as full Football Manager 2017 - that is, November 4. But it doesn't explicitly mention iPad or Android tablets. Hmm.

However, look over at a recent tweet from the official Football Manager Twitter account, and you'll find this:


Also, later in the feed, it's revealed: "No beta version on tablets, just on desktop." This seems to reiterate that we're talking about a distinct tablet version of Football Manager Touch 2017 rather than simply playing it on a Windows 10 tablet. In other words, iPad and Android tablets.

We've reached out to Sports Interactive for clarification this, and will update if we hear anything. But it seems as if the release date for Football Manager Touch 2017 on iPad and Android will indeed be November 4.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.