877.4K TOTAL PLAYERS DURING YOUR FREE TRIAL PERIOD, 21 MILLION MATCHES PLAYED, 40.1 MILLION GOALS SCORED. THAT’S INCREDIBLE!
‘When we came up with the idea to run a free week, it was just at the time when people were starting to work from home. It was also the week when quite a lot of people lost their jobs, and we knew that people were going to struggle to adapt.

‘Rather than do a weekend, we started with a week. The reaction was so good, that it was a no-brainer to do it for a second week. We had well over three-quarters of a million people playing the game, of which over 600,000 had never played Football Manager before. We saw them playing it loads, the play times were ridiculous.

‘I would have liked to extend it longer, but one of the issues that I was alerted to was, because so many people were working from home, some of the telecoms companies were struggling with the amount of bandwidth that people were using. The NHS rely on bandwidth, the police, ambulance and fire services rely on bandwidth, and the government rely on bandwidth. I tried to be a good citizen by letting people play the game from home for free, and then had to be a good citizen by stopping that.

‘After that, we had a think about what we wanted to do and that’s when we decided to the mental health advertising in the game. I definitely think we’ve helped people, and we want to continue to help people. There will be other things that we’re going to do over the next few months. We sprinted a bit at the start of this marathon, but you’ll see other things from us in the future that we’re looking to do as well.

‘We’re a socially responsible company. We are lucky to be able to do all of this, because our revenue hasn’t dried up in the ways that a lot of shops and businesses have. We see it as our responsibility to do this kind of stuff. Some of it will be public-facing, and some of it will be very quiet. Seeing the reaction to it from the team I work with as well has been absolutely incredible.

‘I think the video games and football industries are trying hard. I hope that the people who did dip into our free weekend enjoyed it. If people missed out on it, and they still want to want to try out the game for free, there is a free half-season demo available on Steam that you can do and download, that you can play as many times as you like. You don’t get to finish the season, but that’s available for everyone still, completely for free, with dozens of hours of entertainment available.’

HAVE YOU EVER PLAYED AS CELTIC IN FOOTBALL MANAGER?
‘So, career games – no I haven’t. In my career games in FM, I always play as Watford. What I normally do is, if I like the manager of Watford at the time, I will go on holiday until Watford sack him or he leaves the club in real life, and then start the game then. During my phase where I’m directing the game and testing it before its release, then yes, I have managed Celtic. I’ve also managed Rangers, just to make sure we’re completely covered on that score!

‘I bounce around different leagues and clubs and look forward different challenges. My favourite challenge in Scotland tends to be managing Partick Thistle, because I’ve got a bit of an affinity there because they wear yellow and red. I know that none of the other clubs dislike them, and I’m safe saying that. I’ve managed them before when I’ve wanted a harder experience in Scotland. But I do taste a lot of leagues around the world during that testing time.

‘When I’m playing the game for fun, because believe it or not I do play my own game for fun, then it’s always Watford – and I turn down every other job going until it gets to the point where Watford sack me.’

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CELTIC PLAYER OR MANAGER, PAST OR PRESENT?
‘If I had to choose someone who’s been involved at Celtic, who’s one of my favourite players of all-time, it’s John Barnes. I’m very disappointed that Kieran Tierney left Celtic from a very selfish perspective – he was always one of my go-to players to sign, and now Watford have no chance of getting him from Arsenal. He’s a lovely kid as well as a fantastic footballer. The scouting network at Celtic is very good, so in-game they’re a good side to keep tabs on. Celtic have had so many players who have gone on to play for, not necessarily bigger clubs, but clubs that are going to pay players a lot more money.

‘There’s such a good Academy at Celtic, so in-game, I’m always scouting the Celtic youth set-up looking for players to bring through. But I saw John Barnes on his debut for Watford, coming on as a sub all those years ago, and I saw most of the games he played for the club.

'He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen. He’s always going to be up there for me. Celtic have had their fair share of greats over the years, but for me, in terms of personal attachment, John Barnes would have to be the one.’

A word with the (Football) Manager: FM's Miles Jacobson