Miles Jacobson

Miles Jacobson is the Studio Director of Sports Interactive, the studio behind Football Manager and FM27, where he has run the business since the Championship Manager 01/02 era. He was appointed OBE in 2011 and took full responsibility for Football Manager 26's reception in May 2026.

Miles Jacobson is the Studio Director of Sports Interactive, the London studio that makes Football Manager; he signed SI's May 11, 2026 review of Football Manager 26 in that role and introduced Football Manager 27's free week in Oct 2026. He began as a helper to SI's founders, the Collyer brothers, took over the business side around Championship Manager 01/02, was Managing Director when SEGA bought SI in 2006, and was appointed OBE in the 2011 "New Year Honours".

Quick facts

Role	Studio Director, Sports Interactive (as of Nov 1, 2026)
Earlier role	Managing Director (2006)
Joined	As a helper to the Collyers, before Championship Manager 01/02
Honor	OBE, "New Year Honours", reported Jan 3, 2011
At SI for	Every Football Manager, from 2005 to FM27

Sources: PC Gamer, May 26, 2018; Game Developer, Apr 4, 2006; Game Developer, Jan 3, 2011; Football Manager, May 11, 2026.

Career at Sports Interactive

Jacobson started as a "general helper and friend of the Collyers" and was asked to run the business side around Championship Manager 01/02, when he pushed for more hiring and set up an in-house testing team. He was SI's voice through the 2003 split with Eidos; in 2012 he recalled hearing that Eidos's new studio was making a platform game and thinking "our number was up". When SEGA bought SI on Apr 4, 2006 he was Managing Director, and by 2011 he was its studio director, the title he still holds.

The OBE

Jacobson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the "New Year Honours" list, reported on Jan 3, 2011, "for services to the computer games industry".

On Championship Manager

Looking back for Retro Gamer, Jacobson called Championship Manager 01/02 "probably what CM3 should have been in the first place" and said Championship Manager 03/04 was "the game CM4 should have been". More on Championship Manager.

On Football Manager 25

When SEGA announced Football Manager 25 on Sep 30, 2024, Jacobson called it "just the starting point for the studio's next 20, 30 years". He said nothing publicly on the day it was canceled, Feb 7, 2025, and had been off social media since late 2024, PC Gamer reported. Later, in interviews with Eurogamer and The Athletic that FM Scout summarized on Aug 29, 2025, he called the cancellation "a disaster", explained the move from C++ to C# for Unity, and said he would step back from public-facing work to focus on development. See Football Manager 25.

On Football Manager 26

On May 11, 2026 Jacobson published a review of Football Manager 26 under his own name. He wrote that SI's release "failed to meet the expectations of many" and "This is something I take full responsibility for." He said the interface's platform-agnostic approach had been "ultimately detrimental", that fixing a live game "wouldn't have been possible without moving to Unity", and that "trust is earned not given". He named immersion, in the game world, the navigation and the interface, as the next game's main focus.

On FM27

6:43 Jacobson introduced FM27's free play period on Oct 29, 2026, saying SI had wanted to show more of the game before asking for commitment, and calling it "the ultimate try-before-you-buy". The free period ran on PC and Mac until 6pm GMT on Nov 3, 2026 (Free Trial and Launch Preview). FM27's video reveals have been fronted by Community Manager Chris Groves rather than by Jacobson. The clip is WorkTheSpace reading SI's FAQ for the free period.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Miles Jacobson? Miles Jacobson is the Studio Director of Sports Interactive, the studio that makes Football Manager, including FM27. He has run the studio's business since the Championship Manager 01/02 era.

Does Miles Jacobson have an OBE? Yes. He was appointed OBE in the "New Year Honours", reported on Jan 3, 2011, for services to the computer games industry.

What did Miles Jacobson say about Football Manager 26? On May 11, 2026 he wrote that it failed to meet many players' expectations and took full responsibility, naming immersion as the focus of the next game, FM27.

Is Miles Jacobson still at Sports Interactive? Yes. He was Studio Director as of Nov 1, 2026 and introduced FM27's free play period on Oct 29, 2026.