Hello, I’m Iain Macintosh and I write about video games for a living. I’ve been wanting to say that for over 30 years, so this is a big moment for me. But it’s probably quite a confusing one for you. After all, The Athletic is known for its intelligent and incisive coverage of professional sport; not pixelated sport. So why are we doing this?
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Well, firstly because games are fun. Almost everyone in our office has played Football Manager at some point, and most were able to go on to lead normal lives afterwards. Football Manager is where we lived out our dreams (sometimes) and where we endured our failures (frequently). It’s a sentient spreadsheet with a heart of ice, but oh, we could tell you stories of how we so nearly bested it. And indeed, that’s exactly what Alex Stewart and I have been doing throughout 2021 with our FM Bundesliga Challenge. At times, Football Manager has been less of a game for us and more of a collaborative, semi-improvised storytelling device. So we’ll be doing more of that. And other sports too. There’s a new Formula One game on the horizon. A new Cricket Captain. And a new Mario Golf.
It’s also useful. Our podcast, The Football Manager Show by The Athletic, has picked up hundreds of thousands of listens as people pick up tips from our experts and notice an immediate improvement in results. You’ve read Ajay Rose’s fascinating stories of alternative realities. You’ve studied Art de Roché’s wild-eyed, asymmetric tactics. So we’ll do more of that too.
But that’s not all, because gaming has changed so much over the years. When I first slipped the cassette of Kevin Toms’ original Football Manager into the tape deck of my 48k ZX Spectrum back in the mid-80s, gaming was almost exclusively the preserve of men. Frequently men with unkempt beards who smelled a bit like a damp tent and didn’t really know how to talk to women. Nothing like me, of course. I’ve never been able to grow an unkempt beard.
But now it’s different. According to stats from UKIE, the trade association for the UK gaming industry, 50 per cent of regular gamers are female. And it’s not just for kids either. A huge 46 per cent of frequent gamers are over 40. It’s a diverse industry too; 10 per cent of people working in games are BAME, a higher percentage than the national working population (and sectors like music, publishing and film) while 21 per cent identify as LGBTQ+.
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Television advertising might fool you into thinking that all anyone’s playing is Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, but that diversity in the work force means a diversity in the offerings. Have you heard of the “wholesome” gaming genre with blockbusters like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley? Or the dynamic storytelling games like RimWorld or Wildermyth? Or the enormous grand strategy historical epics like Europa Universalis? There’s so much out there right now and that’s another reason why we’re doing this.
Games are fundamentally just another way of telling stories. And these stories have never been so diverse, so compelling or, after the last 18 months, so necessary. Welcome, then, to The Athletic’s new gaming section. I promise you, it doesn’t smell of damp at all.
NOW READ:
The FM Bundesliga Challenge: Yes, It’s Still Going
If You Like Football Manager, You Might Like…Crusader Kings III
Ten Challenges To Keep FM2020 Entertaining
NOW LISTEN:
The Football Manager Show by The Athletic
NOW WATCH:
How To Get Better At Football Manager (TIFO)
Football Manager Euros Challenge (TIFO)
