Football Manager 2018 allows fictitious players come out as gay

Following last year's challenge of introducing Brexit to the many struggles a manager in Football Manager will face, this year's Football Manager is tackling a new issue, a social one: gay players in football. There have been very few players to come out as openly gay in football, and while organisations are fighting homophobia in the sport, it's still a rare topic of discussion. Football Manager 2018, though, is moving towards what they think is a bright and positive future on the horizon, with a rare in-game event having players come out as gay.

In the grand scheme of managing the club, it will have little effect, boosting some revenue from increased support within the LGBTQ+ community, but otherwise allowing the team to go on as normal. In an interview with the BBC, game director Miles Jacobson said the reason for this is simply "because there are gay footballers."

This can only happen, though, with what Football Manager 2018 and its fans refer to as "newgens," fictional computer-generated characters that are not based on anyone in real life. The aim is not to out or question the sexuality of real players, but instead put forward the possibility that, in the future, footballing culture will transition to a point where players feel comfortable being open about their sexuality.

It cannot, however, happen in countries where being gay is illegal, according to Jacobson in the BBC interview. To respect those laws, this event will not happen in those countries. Whether it also limits transfers to clubs in that country, too, we don't know.

On Twitter, Jacobson has noted that, while some people are reacting negatively to this announcement, there's been "a lot more positivity," indicating the general reaction has been supportive of both Sports Interactive's design choice and the fictional players.

This was originally discovered by someone playing the Football Manager 2018 beta,who posted a screenshot on Twitter. Lugenhimer83 asked Jacobson and others if it's a small secret, and Jacobson quickly confirmed it's true.