Football Manager 2024 fan creates overhauled physics engine in amazing game-changing mod

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games here

After suffering lengthy delays with little communication for fans, we’re all a little tired of waiting for Football Manager 2025. Are you? Is the Football Manager 2024 match engine just not cutting it any more, after 15+ months of playing it?

Well don’t worry, unofficially, a genius FM fan from China has all of covered covered with a brand-new FM 2024 mod that completely overhauls the in-game physics engine for an awesome, fresh experience.

Football Manager fan overhauls FM24’s match engine

For most games, there are tonnes of mods. If you’ve played Grand Theft Auto, you’ll know just how many crazy ways people have changed the game. Like this mod where the traffic is made super fast. Although there have been lots of custom databases for Football Manager, over the years, there have been very few actual mods to the game engine itself.

🚀 Save Up to $1,200 on the Samsung Galaxy S25!

Pre-order now and save big with trade-in and Samsung credit. Limited time only!

*Includes trade-in value + $300 Samsung credit.

However, a few weeks ago a Chinese Football Manager player created an update to the Football Manager 2024 physic’s engine. Created by modder “红骑士Sakura”, the new mod transforms the game into almost an entirely new experience. Available to download here, the mod is a great way to freshen up the year-old-plus management sim.

The mod doesn’t only change the game’s graphics engine for more advanced visuals, but also modifies values in the file that control the game’s physics. The modder noted which attributes influence which stats in the game engine and you can see the English translation of the chart here.


🎮 Must-Listen: Publishing Manor Lords w/ Joe Robinson 🎙️


Everyone loves it

With the wait for FM25 coming to a massive standstill, the Football Manager community has immediately fallen in love with the new Match Engine mod. Across the community, the reception has been incredibly positive so far with the only worry that Sports Interactive will take issue with the mod, as they have with similar mods in the past.

Within the community, players have taken incredibly well to the new mod with one user saying: “Using two laptops side by side, one with the standard simatch file, the other with the modded one, I played the same save, five games in each laptop, and I saw a big difference. Especially in how the game flows. The ball animations, the way the ball moves in the pitch, how the engine shows the players executing the action; also, I saw tactics being more fluid and players acting accordingly.”

“I’ve been using this for the last week or so and it feels like it gives more realistic gameplay,” explained another player. “There’s less of a feeling that the ball is glued to players feet. Long or hard hit passes don’t stick to the receiving player as well, with players more likely to take a heavy touch or bobble the ball a bit more. My players seem more willing to try hitting lower percentage balls over or through the opposition defence. Watching general play, it’s hard to put my finger on it, but it feels more like you’re watching an actual game of football and not the FM style of football that we’re used to.”

Installation instructions

So if this is something you’re interested in and want to install it, here are the instructions:

  • Go to your FM24 main directory (for me this is Football Manager 2024/data). You’ll see a bunch of files there with the FMF extension.
  • Backup the original simatch.fmf file (rename it or move it to a different directory)
  • Download the new simatch.fmf file
  • Move the downloaded simatch.fmf to the FM24 main directory

An incredible community

Just like with more traditional games like Skyrim or Baldur’s Gate 3, the Football Manager community is incredible. While some of us wait for FM25 to just appear, the most talented community members are making dreams come true. Of course, we’re still excited to finally play FM25 when it finally releases, but this mod is proof that the FM fans are as passionate as they come.

About the Author

William Reid

William is the admin of Out of Context Football Manager, an X account that focuses on FM news. He's worked for LADbible Group and is VG's resident FM expert.

Football Manager 2024

  • Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
  • Genre(s): Management, Soccer, Sports
9.5 VideoGamer