Football Manager 26 (hereinafter FM 26) officially launched on the 5th. With early access already flooded with scathing critiques, the fears have materialized into a 'Mostly Negative' user score upon full release.

FM 26 offered early access starting on the 24th for about two weeks. Fans who had waited nearly two years for this successor dove in, only to find themselves drowning in frustration over UI changes, which quickly dominated the forums. This pre-launch firestorm inevitably spilled over into user reviews, resulting in a 'Mostly Negative' rating (7,579 reviews, 23% positive)—the worst performance for any entry in the series on Steam to date.

As previously aired in community forums, the overhauled UI is a major point of contention. The familiar side-menu navigation has been scrapped for a top-bar layout with bookmarks, a change that forces users to click at least three times to perform tasks that used to take one. Beyond the loss of the series' once-lauded intuitiveness, players are reporting significant lag, a slew of bugs, and a complete lack of customization options, leading many to label it the 'worst UI in the series'.

The criticism doesn't end there; vital features such as data analysis tools, youth team management, quick substitutions, and touchline instructions have been omitted, alongside key game modes from previous titles. While the increased tactical freedom and visual upgrades on the pitch are welcome, these missing pieces severely hamper the overall immersion. The current consensus? Hold off on buying until major patches or mods can salvage the experience. While developers have rolled out five hotfixes as of the 7th, it is going to take a long time to win back the fans.

Elsewhere on the Steam top sellers list, 'The Last Caretaker', a new title about crafting tools to save humanity on a flooded Earth, launched on the 6th and climbed to 5th place. Meanwhile, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 secured 4th place, buoyed by its first 40% discount and a free play period running until the 11th.

In the daily peak Concurrent Players top 20, Dead by Daylight climbed to 19th with 80,516 players following the return of its 2v8 mode. Battlefield 6 maintains 4th place with 346,628 players, though Arc Raiders is closing the gap with 315,238. Despite the backlash, FM 26 managed 16th place with 83,767 Concurrent Players.