“Football Manager”, the video game that has become an “obsession” for our readers

Have you decided to boycott the World Cup in Qatar? No problem: we found something to occupy your days, and your nights at the same time. The video game Soccer Manager makes its return on November 8. The 2023 edition will immerse you, like every year, in the shoes of a coach and will let you manage the destiny of the club of your choice from A to Z. Please note, we prefer to warn you: Soccer Manager is very (very) addictive. To the point of sometimes turning, as our readers have told us, into “obsession”.

heiress of Championship Manager (The coach in VF), the series born in the mid-2000s indeed fascinates to excess. Manage the tactics, transfers, the budget of his club: everything is an excuse to get lost in the menus of FM, where the numbers keep scrolling. The series is also hailed for its realism, with some pro clubs using the database for their own recruitment. Enough to make it one of the most time-consuming video games in the world, at the same level as the series of strategy games Civilization or multiplayer role-playing games like World of Warcraft.

“I was obsessed with winning the Champions League”

Wilfried, 39, says he “started playing at 16”: “Of course I’m addicted! I’m so crazy about this game that I took the portable version. Edy explains that he spent “275 hours” on Soccer Manager 2022. But the prize goes to Marco, player since the 2011 edition, who estimates his time spent on the game at “6,985 hours”, “not counting the series The coach “.

“My girlfriend gave me Soccer Manager as a Christmas present, says Yann. I told him that was a pretty bad idea, although I was thrilled. “The young man still starts a game, after choosing RB Salzburg, an Austrian club. “I was obsessed with winning the Champions League. It took me eleven seasons, but I succeeded, after multiple failures and tantrums. I spent about 1,000 hours on the game. Every elimination in the Champions League was a terrible blow to morale. »

“Sleepless nights” and gambling at work

How to explain that aficionados spend so many hours on FM ? “It’s taking, there are so many parameters to manage and take into consideration: the development of his tactics, the management of contracts, the young players who must be brought to maturity”, tries to explain Julien , who “waits” for her “children to sleep” to play. “In short, we all take ourselves for our models (Carlo Ancelotti and Sir Alex Ferguson for my part), and we try to get closer to their prize list. »

But winning takes time – sometimes too much. So, some of our readers assume to make sacrifices. Julien admits having spent “sleepless nights as a teenager”, and “dodged” outings, “but never a family meal”. “It goes without saying that I cut short many evenings with friends, pretending to be sick to play rather than go out, and that with the Covid-19 and the advent of telework, I spent many hours playing instead to work”, confesses Yann. We remind you, just in case, that playing at work can lead to disciplinary sanctions. Watch out, next time it’s a red card.