What is General Manager Games?

GM Games is an independent media organisation covering sports management video games. We have been doing this since 2011. Our readers are people who love taking on the role of the General Manager, the person at the centre of a sports franchise making the signings, trades, drafting decisions, coach hires, and salary cap calls that shape a team’s direction over multiple seasons. We cover video games that simulate that experience across nearly twenty sports, on every major operating system and device. We support all independent developers building games of this kind, regardless of size. GM Games is the source for the sports simulation games that matter in this niche.

What’s the appeal of sports sims, and what makes them different?

Sports sims are about stats and strategy more than reflexes. They tap into the curiosity of how teams are built and coached. Fans start a career, manage the roster, set lineups, scout and trade players, and run a franchise across many seasons. You can watch each game in a 2D or 3D engine, or skip ahead to the result. It can feel like running an ESPN Gamecast on your own team.

You don’t need a high sports IQ to enjoy these games. They vary in complexity and welcome players of all ages, all sports backgrounds, from anywhere in the world. You can play against the AI or against other people in online leagues.

How has the category progressed?

Accessibility is the biggest change. The algorithms that used to need a serious desktop machine now run on a phone. You can take a multi-season franchise with you to the couch or onto the train.

The games also feel more real than ever. OOTP Developments licensed real MLB teams and the actual championship trophy. Other developers are negotiating similar deals. This niche is making friends with league offices.

What still fascinates me most is the simulation engines themselves. The same two teams played on different days, with real-life variables, give different and believable outcomes. The developers building these engines are using a level of programming science that most players never see, all in the service of a niche audience that genuinely cares.

What are some of the most innovative features of today’s games?

The depth keeps surprising me. Players in these games now have personality archetypes, dozens of skill ratings, and development curves that play out over a career. Studios that have been doing this for years are pushing live-match 3D graphics that show a full game in motion. The factors of consideration in real-life sports keep finding their way into the sim, because the developers hear about it from their communities.

Why was GM Games created?

For a long time, talented independent developers have been building algorithms that simulate the work of running a sports team. Almost every sport has had someone with the vision to put a great strategy game on the map. The technology has caught up. Tablets and handhelds have made it easier than ever to play.

Even so, the loyal community of sports sim fans had a hard time finding out about new releases. Coverage was scattered. Operation Sports and IGN are console-focused and the management games were buried, hard to find, or covered out of date. There was no one inventory of the games that mattered, in one place, kept current. I started GM Games in 2011 to fill that gap.

What makes GMGames.org different from other sports sim websites?

GM Games serves two audiences at once: the developers and the readers. We give developers the chance to reach a loyal and knowledgeable sports sim audience. They can share information about their games, and learn what their community wants. They can also see what is being done in other sports and other engines, ideas they could carry across.

GM Games does not focus on any single sport. Most of our readers are sports fans in general, and many play across multiple sims. The best games tend to stay installed for months, sometimes years.

For readers, we provide a community to join leagues and talk with other people who care about these games. We have some of the most knowledgeable sim players you will find. The questions that come up here, offline versus cloud, the future of handheld play, what is happening next in each sport, are the kind of questions that move this niche forward. We are the source for that conversation.

What can you do to contribute?

The best thing you can do is tell us if we have missed a game. We try to cover everything in this space, but new releases appear all the time and indie developers can be hard to find. Join the forums, our Discord server, or the r/gmgames community on Reddit. Share what you are playing. Help us inspire the next generation of sports sim fans.