SEGA Unveils MMO Football Manager Live

For those budding football managers out there who have been patiently waiting years for a fully-featured management sim they could play online against their mates (forgetting the awful, broken failure that was 2001’s Sky Sports Football Manager), the long, hard wait is nearly over – with SEGA's Sports Interactive studio announcing today the future release of innovative MMO Football Manager Live, due Spring 2008 on PC and Mac.

That’s right, prepare to become addicted to a whole new football related thing on the Internet in 2008. Up to a thousand managers will be able to play against each other in a single game world.

SEGA's release just in informs us, “Football Manager Live has its roots set in the best-selling and award-winning Football Manager series, but has been designed specifically as a massively multiplayer online game….[it’s] a brand new concept in football management and allows you to build a club from scratch to compete against friends and rivals online for the ultimate in Football Manager bragging rights. It’s the definitive test of football management skills, allowing you to set-up mini-leagues amongst your friends, bid in player auctions and compete in live matches 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

Matches take place in real-time with managers being able to watch the on-screen 2D-match action while chopping and changing their tactics, plus the in-game chat option means managers can exchange comments (read: shout abuse at each other) on the virtual touchline, whilst other aspiring managers can view their competitors and learn their tactics.

Sports Interactive co-founder, Oliver Collyer came up with the original concept for the game, noting that, “With Football Manager Live, we're ripping up the script that says how online football management games should work…We're creating something that is fun, challenging and sociable.”

“Imagine a cross between Football Manager, fantasy sports and auctions sites and you are part of the way to understanding Football Manager Live” commented Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. “It’s great to be able to announce the game, and we can’t wait to see the reaction to the beta when it launches next month.”

So, it has all the makings of eBay meets myspace meets fantasy football - essentially more addictive than crack cocaine for any self respecting football fan.

Watch out later today for SPOnG’s detailed first preview of Football Manager Live from the launch event at Sports Interactive earlier this week.