SUMO WARRINGTON TAKES UP THE CALL FOR ‘THE BRIGHTEST AND THE BEST’ TO RAISE THE BAR IN SPORTS INTERACTIVE’S FOOTBALL MANAGER 2021

For the launch of Football Manager 2021, Sports Interactive decided to enlist some of the brightest and best minds in game technology to help them deliver experience-enhancing performance and graphic improvements in the latest iteration of their much-loved franchise. In June 2020, a four-person team from Sumo Warrington was selected to work closely with their in-house engineers.

Integrating, exploiting and in one instance improving best-of-breed CPU and GPU profiling tools across multiple platforms, performance hotspots were methodically assessed in terms of anticipated impact and effort to optimise. With a focus on maximising “bang per buck” – especially on older devices – targeted improvements were made and reviewed, yielding framerate boosting benefits to animation and particle systems along with frequently used shaders and lighting calculations.

The team also supported feature development and incremental qualitative refinement thereof, including video capture/playback, (the divisive) VAR, FaceGen middleware integration (into content pipelines and runtime), and an improved device-centric quality configuration.

“Sumo gets to work on many amazing games. Some run from ideation to completion whilst others, like Football Manager, present specific technical challenges within an established codebase and an agreed schedule. We jumped at the chance to apply Sumo Warrington’s technical expertise, passion and pragmatism to this cherished IP in partnership with the supremely talented SI team,” commented Scott Kirkland, Studio Director at Sumo Warrington.

“We really couldn’t have asked for a better first partnership for the studio, and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to help Sports Interactive whilst allowing the guys to immerse themselves in such diverse and engaging work! That the collaboration is ongoing – albeit in a more forward-looking manner - is a testament to the relationship we’ve built.”

“With a game as large as Football Manager and a mandate to deliver the best possible player experience on as many platforms and devices as possible, there are always improvements and enhancements that can be made. To launch on time AND to quality, we knew that our ambition exceeded capacity, so we proactively sought an external partner to augment our in-house team. The Sumo Warrington guys had the capabilities and experience we needed and because of Sumo’s excellent reputation, we know we could trust them completely with our baby,” commented Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive.