Football Manager is one of the most popular football games in the world and is made by Sports Interactive. But it could have been an EA Sports game, if the company had not said “no” to the project in the early 90s.
The letter
At the National Football Museum in England, there is a letter on display from EA Sports addressed to brothers Paul and Oliver Collyer. At the time, the game was still called European Champions.
In it, an EA production assistant apologizes to the brothers and explains that the company will not release the prototype. The reason? EA did not believe a game based on statistics, with no action, could be successful.
Despite the rejection, it wished them luck with other companies already working on football simulators. And at the end there is a delightful note: a warning that the game’s floppy disks were infected with a virus.
The rest is history
A year later, in 1992, the Collyers took the idea to Domark (later part of Eidos) and struck a deal. Championship Manager was born, and it became a phenomenon throughout the 90s and up to 2003. In 2004, with Sports Interactive now separate from Eidos, the game was renamed Football Manager, and its success continues to this day.
Years later, EA did release its own simulator, FIFA Manager, but it never got there and was eventually discontinued.
Imagine what it would have been like if EA had said “yes”. Do you think the game would be the same?
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Sources: Canaltech / Who Ate All The Pies
