Football Manager Beta Goes Live Today
Start practicing your management skills because Football Manager 21 is finally entering beta ahead of its full release later this month. While games like FIFA 21 have put an emphasis on how you work on the pitch - with some behind the scenes element - Football Manager puts you firmly in the director's box and tasks you with running your own team. With the video game industry going great guns in the middle of a pandemic, there's something ironic about you managing your own football team when you can't do it in real life.
The Football Manager series has been a Sports Interactive staple since 2004, while Football Manager 21 hopes to continue that legacy. Hot off the heels of FIFA 21's next-gen release, Football Manager 21 is keen to give its sporting rival a run for its money. As the likes of FIFA 21 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have shown, beta testing phases are crucial to ironing out the kinks. With just weeks to go until Football Manager 21's November 24 release, it's finally time to get to grips with the game's beta.
- Read More: FIFA 21 - New Ultimate Team Features
The wait is finally over, Football Manager 21 is officially going live with its beta today (November 10). When the news started doing the rounds on Twitter, one happy fan wrote, "Happy Football Manager 21 Beta day lads. Let's leave work, gf, netflix and everything else for at least a couple of months. #FM21".
Anyone who pre-ordered Football Manager 21 will have been given a beta access code for Stream, meaning that when the game is released later today, you'll be able to download it as part of early access. All the usual modes like Network Games and Fantasy Draft are expected in the beta, but be warned, if any encounter a problem, expect them to be pulled.
Alongside a new match engine AI, Football Manager 21 is also offering the ability to approach agents directly, the title's long-awaited return to Xbox, and has even taken the real-life COVID-19 pandemic into consideration. Most excitingly, Football Manager 21 is trying something new by completely revamping how your emotions work.
Until now, it was impossible to recreate that iconic dressing room boot kick between Alex Ferguson and David Beckham. Although you still can't launch a shoe at Golden Balls, you can throw a water bottle across the room to demonstrate your frustration at an underperforming team. Managers can also kick off in post-match press junkets, making Football Manager 21 more realistic than ever before. We all know managers can be a bit hot-headed at times.
The main aim of Sports Interactive was to reportedly make a game that didn't look like it was created during a pandemic. Do you have what it takes to lift a trophy in the write-off that has been 2020? Hopefully the Football Manager 21 beta will give us a taste of what's to come.
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