On February 5, 2025, a new version of the Football Manager 2024 match engine was uploaded, this time in Korea. Turns out FM24 Match Engine Modding is quite the international affiar. The “Korean Engine” as it is now known introduced additional refinements as follows
Key Adjustments in the FM Korea Update:
- Adjusted player movement for smoother transitions
- Reduced the angle players can turn at once
- Eliminated unnatural movements (e.g., 360-degree shots)
- Adjusted defensive reaction times
- Improved tackling behaviour, increasing defensive engagement
- Removed delays for headers and certain defensive actions
- Ensured no changes to player speed, pass speed, or shot speed to maintain balance
- This update is meant to make defending more active and realistic, reducing moments where defenders seem unresponsive. However, it does introduce a slight increase in defensive failure risks due to more aggressive tackling.
Where to Get It
Download the Match Engine here
How Can You Edit a Football Manager Match Engine?
Well, in ye olden times players used to do just that – even as recently as FM2020 some Korean genius’ upgraded that engine. It was a lot easier back then and naturally, Sports Interactive didn’t like people making their game better so they obfuscated the files. Did that stop Sakura? No. (I won’t go into detail here, we will have a deep dive soon.) Sakura dove into the match engine using a hex editor and patience. The patience paid off.
What’s The Difference between the Sakura & Korean Match Engines??
Sakuras original Mod, aka the “Chinese mod” improved gameplay animations, making matches smoother and more visually appealing. However, it also introduced slightly unrealistic results, increasing the total number of goals per season by approximately 10-20 per team.
Conversely, the Korean Match Engine delivered more realistic goal statistics—an improvement over the default match engine, which was often criticized for an excessive number of goals. However, the Korean mod’s impact on visual effects was minimal, with barely noticeable changes during matches. It seemed to mostly subtly buff defending.
Installation Guide
For those unfamiliar with modifying FM files, here’s a step-by-step guide to installing the update:
Locate Your FM24 Main Directory
For those unfamiliar with modifying FM files, here’s a step-by-step guide to installing the update:
- Locate Your FM24 Main Directory
- Typically, this is found in Football Manager 2024/data.
- Inside, you’ll see multiple files with the .fmf extension.
- Back Up Your Original File
- Before making any changes, rename or move the original simatch.fmf file to another location. This way, you can revert if needed.
- Download the New File
- Get the updated simatch.fmf file from the link above or on our match engine page.
- Replace the Old File
- Move the downloaded file into the FM24 main directory.
- Optional: Combining Mods
- If you are using other patches that modify simatch.fmf (e.g., MetzFM sound pack), you may need the Resource Archiver to merge them.
A Community-Powered FM24?
With the level of community engagement and modding, some have even suggested focusing on refining FM24 rather than waiting for FM25. That is why FMTweak exists.
If you try this update, let me know your thoughts. Have you noticed improvements? Any interesting gameplay changes? Share your experiences in the comments!