Sports Interactive turns 30

Ever since our formation in 1994, Sports Interactive has existed to create games that put people at the centre of their passions.

This is the story of how we’ve gone from two brothers making games in a Shropshire bedroom to our most recent title being played by more than 11 million globally.

As we reach our 30th birthday, we’re going to take you on a tour of our history…

Unstoppable from the start

1994 was a big year for Paul and Oliver Collyer. They’d made their first three games by then but decided to form a studio to shape future projects.

Just like that, Sports Interactive was born.

Current Studio Director Miles Jacobson joined that year, initially as a QA Tester before starting to help out mainly on the business side shortly afterwards. The first release under the SI banner followed in 1995 and it’s been non-stop in the pursuit of progress ever since…

Different homes, same objectives

Since moving to our first office in 1994, we’ve had four different homes.

The first three were in North London – Compton Terrace (1994-1997), Upper Street (1997-2006), Old Street (2006-2018) – while for the last six years we’ve been at Here East in Stratford.

Each has reflected a stage of our journey and the growing needs of our team and products.

Growing audiences and a growing reputation

Wherever we’ve worked, putting our players first has always been our biggest priority.

Many of you have been with us since the 90s, with millions more joining along the way. Whenever you got onboard, it’s our passionate fanbase, you, that made our games cult classics.

More than 11 million have played FM24. 10 million was a long-term ambition when Miles first said it but now it’s reality. It’s also just the start of what we now want to achieve…

With a growing audience and more platforms than ever to play FM on, our team has gone from strength to strength. From the early days on Compton Terrace with a small crew, we’re now a team of almost 300 that spans the UK, North America, Europe, Australia and beyond.

A Research team envied the world over

The biggest part of the SI family is our Research team.

We started by tapping into the minds of UK football fanzine writers. Since then we’ve attracted input from journalists, analysts, and season-ticket holders around the globe.

Our research network is now 1,500 strong and their hard work and dedication has helped FM fans fall in love year after year with players they’d probably never otherwise have known.

The depth and detail of the database naturally entwined us closer with the football world. In 2008 Everton gained access in a deal that was the first of its kind in either industry. Subsequently, we’ve worked with many other elite clubs, including Leicester City during their title-winning season.

It’s helped our people too. Many who started their footballing journeys in our Research team have used that experience to secure full-time roles as Scouts in England, Portugal, Greece and Germany to Sporting Directors in Switzerland.

Partners to be proud of

Collaboration has always been in SI’s DNA. Not just within our teams but in our relationships with football clubs, charities and social causes. Those partnerships have helped define our story.

We’ve backed AFC Wimbledon since their reformation in 2002 in what has become English football’s longest-running sponsorship deal.

The Dons aren’t the only club in our squad of partners. Miles’ lifelong passion for Watford led us to strike up a partnership with them that has lasted more than a decade.

More recently we’ve begun working with a wider range of clubs whose ethos and approach to the sport matched ours. That’s led to multi-year arrangements with Brighton & Hove Albion, Brentford, and Burnley. Our diversified approach also saw us find perfect partners overseas in the shape of Venezia and Yokohama F. Marinos.

Values and attitudes have also forged strong links with powerful charities and social causes.

We’ve got links with the charity War Child dating back to 2006. War Child have one simple goal – ensuring a safe future for every child living through war. We began our bond by donating a proportion of every game sold and since 2016 have made donations based on total sales. In total, we’ve raised more than £2 million to help fund their work.

In a world filled with conflict, War Child need the promotion for their work more than we do and that’s why we’ve given them our AFC Wimbledon front-of-shirt sponsorship space for the 2024/25 season. 

Kick It Out, meanwhile, have appeared in-game since 2001 and we continue to wholeheartedly support their mission to end all forms of discrimination in sport. Our link with them led us to partner with Stormzy’s MerkyFC programme in 2023 and the first person to come through that collaboration joined us in June 2024.

Fuelled by the passion of our fans

Accolades from our fans and our peers are a healthy by-product of our work over the past three decades.

From the PC Zone Editorial Award in 2000 to BAFTA wins in 2001 and 2005, and more recent recognition from Ukie, we’re very privileged that rarely has a year passed without us in the title mix.

There have also been personal accolades for the Collyer brothers, who were given MBEs in 2010, and Miles, who received an OBE the following year. Our collaborative team spirit, meanwhile, has taken us to Best Places to Work honours in 2021 and 2023 and lifetime achievement awards from MCV/Develop and Develop:Star.

Love the game. Live the game

Throughout our journey we’ve been completely committed to embracing change.

Whether that was changing publishers and signing with SEGA or releasing our games on new platforms in ways others haven’t, we’ve never been afraid to do things differently.

We’ve experimented with the formats of our games and even explored other sports.

Look at our marketing back catalogue and you’ll see collaborations with elite players, clubs and news brands as well as stand-up comedy shows and an iconic documentary. You’ll also find Gaffa Cakes and The Scent of Success - the less said about the latter the better…

In recent years we’ve adapted to the pandemic and post-pandemic world, with our last four releases produced in a hybrid working environment.

Together for the win

SI’s first 30 years have been incredible. A constant learning process, and a journey of evolution and growth to put players at the heart of immersive sporting realities.

We’re confident we’ll remain at the cutting edge of games development - whatever the next 30 years brings.

Our outlook remains firmly fixed on progression and our goals haven’t changed. We will continue to innovate and raise that bar ever higher in our genre.

Football Manager 25 will launch later this year. The start of our new era, it’ll give you more reasons than ever to fall in love with the beautiful game. We look forward to having you along for the ride.