Football Manager 2013 announced, features an all-new Classic mode

SEGA has announced the latest addition to its Football Manager series. Football Manager 2013, developed by Sports Interactive will be made available to Mac and PC users close to this holiday season.

The game brings a lot of new features and a series of improvements over the current elements. There's an improved 3D match engine that offers more detailed graphics, enhanced training, new staff roles like specialist coaches and worldwide leader boards. It will also completely exploit the Steam system's network functionality, providing players greater ease for setting up games against other managers.

The Media interaction section has also been updated whereby, managers can now control the tone of their press conferences choosing from calm to aggressive, all the way up to Alex Ferguson.

The highlight of the game, however, is the introduction of a new 'Classic' or FMC mode for players who wouldn't have time to go through a full season. If they focus on taking their team to the number one spot, they should be able to finish the game in about 8-10 hours. But that doesn't stop players from being in-charge of pitch tactics and choose transfer targets. The AI handles the media and training part.

Talking to The Guardian about featuring the FMC mode, Miles Jacobson managing director of Sports Interactivesaid, "We were having a big meeting with everyone on the FM team just after the release of FM 2011 and I asked how many were playing the game at home. Pretty much all of the younger guys put their hands up, but very few of the older ones - the ones with kids - did. So we decided there and then to make FMC a mode in the PC game, rather than a separate release."

The FMC mode can either be played as an open-ended career or through the new Challenge mode that was first introduced in the handheld version of Football Manager 2012. Challenge mode is designed for players to overcome a particular scenario to test their management skills over a set period of time.

FMC mode will also offer 'unlockable' features which can be used to make the game a bit easier, such as removing the need for work permits or providing managers with extra transfer budgets. These can be unlocked on accomplishing certain milestones in the game.

Football Manager 2013 will ship with five challenges to begin with and more being made available over time.