Game Groups > Total Club Manager / FIFA Manager series

Electronic Arts' third attempt at football management games (following FIFA Soccer Manager and FA Premier League Football Manager 2000), Total Club Manager was designed by Gerald Köhler, a German game designer well known for his work on the design and development of the Anstoß series, developed by Ascaron.

Offering a (comparatively) lighter approach than the leading managing game (SI's Football Manager series), FIFA Manager (the main name used by the franchise since the 2006 version) is closer in style and options to managing games developed in Germany, such as the aforementioned Anstoß series or games distributed or developed by Software 2000 and Bubball, offering many micromanagement options (such as stadium expansions, control of merchandise products and development of club facilities). Another of the main selling points was the usage of FIFA's 3D engine to simulate games.

In the 2004 and 2005 versions, players who owned the managing game along the FIFA release of the same year could play games instead of simulating them. After stopping sharing the same engine, the ability to play returned with the 07 release, although with a large change: it's only possible to control a single player.

On November 23, 2013 it was announced that FIFA Manager 14 (which was already only a re-release of FIFA Manager 13) would be the last game in the series.