Championship Manager
Football management sim series from 1992, later split into two franchises.
The *Championship Manager* series of football management simulation games began with its first release in 1992. The concept and brand were created by brothers Paul and Oliver Collyer, who programmed the original game in their bedroom in Shropshire, England. They later founded the development company Sports Interactive and relocated to Islington, North London. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, *Championship Manager* became the top-selling football management simulator, frequently breaking sales records.
In 2003, Sports Interactive ended its partnership with publisher Eidos. Sports Interactive kept the game's database and match engine, using them to create a new title called *Football Manager*. Eidos retained the *Championship Manager* name and interface, handing development to a new internal team, Beautiful Game Studios. For a time, both series coexisted, but *Championship Manager* sales eventually fell behind those of *Football Manager*. The last full version of the original series was *Championship Manager 2010*, followed by an iOS mobile game in 2011. Square Enix Europe, which acquired the brand when it bought Eidos, revived the series in 2013 under the title *Champ Man*, releasing five games for iOS and Android handheld systems and mobile phones since then.
Beautiful Game Studios was founded in 2003 and announced in January 2004 as an internal development team of Eidos Interactive (later Square Enix Europe). It was created to develop *Championship Manager* after Sports Interactive left Eidos in 2003. In May 2008, Eidos hired Roy Meredith as general manager. In November 2009, after Square Enix had acquired Eidos and renamed it Square Enix Europe, the company announced a restructuring of Beautiful Game Studios to "build a successful commercial future" for the brand. About 80% of jobs were cut or moved to Eidos Shanghai, including most of the programming department, though Meredith kept his role. The studio remained operational despite the cuts. In September 2010, Beautiful Game Studios announced a strategic partnership with Chinese publisher Shanda Games, granting Shanda the Chinese distribution rights for future *Championship Manager* titles. This partnership grew from Eidos Shanghai's prior work with Shanda and long-term communications between the studios. The resulting game, *Championship Manager: World of Football*, was announced in July 2011.
T
- first_release
- 1992
- original_developers
- Paul and Oliver Collyer
- original_development_location
- Shropshire, England
- development_company_founded
- Sports Interactive
- publisher
- Eidos (later Square Enix Europe)
- most_recent_full_version
- Championship Manager 2010
- latest_release
- Champ Man mobile games (2013 onward)
Lore & Background
The original Championship Manager was written in BASIC, a programming language not well suited to high-performance games, and used generated names for teams. Its release was not an outstanding success, with sales steady rather than spectacular. The following year, Championship Manager '93 was ported to C, added a real-life player database, and built a large following in the UK. Update disks for the 1993/94 and 1994/95 seasons were released. Championship Manager 2 arrived in September 1995, adding ground photos and in-match commentary with Clive Tyldesley. Championship Manager 96/97 was the first to include a non-British league (Italian leagues) and rule changes reflecting the Bosman ruling. Championship Manager 97/98 included nine leagues from around the world and remains popular for its simplicity.
Reader's Guide
Championship Manager's significance lies in its dominance of the football management simulation market in the late 1990s and early 2000s, regularly setting sales records. The series pioneered features such as real player databases, multiple playable leagues, and data editors. In 2003, Sports Interactive split with publisher Eidos, retaining the game's database and match engine to create Football Manager, while Eidos kept the name and interface, with Beautiful Game Studios taking over development. Sales of Championship Manager subsequently fell below those of Football Manager. The most recent full version was Championship Manager 2010, with an iOS mobile game in 2011. Square Enix Europe revived the brand as Champ Man in 2013, releasing five games for iOS and Android. The series' legacy includes its role in the split that created two competing franchises and its continued presence on mobile platforms.
Did You Know?
- The original Championship Manager was written in BASIC, a programming language not well suited to high-performance video games.
- Championship Manager 4, released on 28 March 2003, became the fastest-selling PC game on its first day of release.
- Championship Manager 01/02 was released as freeware in December 2008.
- A fan-made remake of Championship Manager 97/98 was released on 1 November 2022.
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