Steam's sports games sale has brought the usual football and basketball names into focus, but tucked among them was a title of clear interest to competitive-gaming fans: Esports Manager 2026. The full game hasn't launched yet, but a free demo is live, and we spent time testing what the developers are showing ahead of release.
The demo begins with a manager creation screen that feels significantly more streamlined than what longtime sim players might expect from titles like Football Manager. You can set a name, nationality, date of birth and even a temperament, and the interface allows uploading a photo — options that are familiar but presented in a much pared-down editor.
The nationality field raised an eyebrow almost immediately: Russia is not available as a choice. The selection is broad enough to include small island nations, yet our country was absent, forcing us to pick a workaround. It may be an isolated omission, but it's an odd one given the otherwise wide list of options.
Rather than creating a brand-new organization, we chose to take over a recognizable club and try to make it great again. That decision also helped clarify what Esports Manager 2026 actually is: despite the broader title, it functions primarily as a general manager simulator focused on Counter-Strike 2.
Club profiles in the demo contain rosters and staff exclusively for CS2. Staff lists and player attributes are present, but the presentation leans on star icons in a way that sometimes exaggerates perceived differences between players. A quick comparison of certain player skill readings highlighted inconsistent use of those visual indicators.
The demo limits you to 150 selectable teams, and the basis for that selection is not transparent. The list includes a surprising mix: there are women's squads and academy sides, obscure teams, and some notable absences. For example, you can find a women's roster for FURIA Esports, Akimbo Esports (which sits low in public rankings), and even odd entries like Sissi State Punks, alongside youth teams, yet several global household names are missing.
Some established organizations are present under slightly altered branding — creative renames are frequent — while others appear intact. Several recognizable teams that normally appear in esports titles are absent from the demo's roster set, whereas other clubs show up under fictionalized names that mimic familiar lineups.
The use of alternate club names is unsurprising given licensing complexities. Not every organization will sign deals to have their brand used in an unproven game. Still, it is notable that a mix of altered and authentic team identities coexists in the demo, leaving open the question of whether some teams licensed their likenesses or whether the developers applied a selective approach to naming.
The demo injects humor in a few of its renames and roster quirks. Some player pairings and identities are presented with tongue-in-cheek references, which can be entertaining, but the amusement is tempered by serious shortcomings elsewhere in the database.
The underlying database feels raw. Several clubs are missing multiple players or have incomplete rosters, which undermines the experience from the first team-selection screen. Some teams lack key starters entirely; others are left with only three players on the roster in places where a full lineup is obviously expected.
Staff data is equally patchy. Across many teams the management and support personnel are random, generically generated characters with unlikely nationalities or profiles. In one example, a familiar organization lists a CEO with a name and country that don't match public reality, and a few young talent names are missing from teams where they should appear.
Financial modelling is another area where the demo's realism stumbles. Transfer and salary budgets are inconsistent between clubs in ways that don't reflect how the esports economy typically looks. Some organizations show modest payroll and operational funds that make sense for smaller outfits, while others display implausibly large transfer banks that break immersion.
A recurring visual motif in the demo is the portrait of a presenter figure who appears on many screens to guide the player. The repetition feels heavy-handed; the character becomes prominent enough that it borders on distracting rather than helpful.
Mechanically, Esports Manager follows the classic template for management sims: an inbox where much of the gameplay happens, scouting tools to discover talent, training modules to improve players, and individual profiles with attributes and notes. These familiar building blocks are all present in the demo and are purposefully recognizable to fans of the genre.
Small details show the game is still in a formative state. In one player profile a technical line from an external wiki appears where a biography should be, underscoring that some content was pulled or interpolated without final editing. These artifacts are forgivable in a demo but indicative of work that remains to be done.
Game logic has notable issues from the outset. After advancing the in-game calendar a short interval, a flurry of implausible transfers and roster changes occurs. In the demo's timeline, several teams suddenly sign players or react in ways that feel arbitrary, such as unexpected signings and the return of retired or inactive stars.
Early-season transfers in our trial included surprising moves that would be unlikely in reality. Some teams picked up players from regions they don't normally recruit, and a few legacy names were inexplicably reintroduced to active rosters. The speed and nature of these transactions point to simulation rules that still need tuning.
Day-to-day GM tasks — accepting tournament invites, juggling rosters, arranging practice and dealing with contracts — function as one would expect. Negotiations are handled through a message chain interface, but the demo revealed instability in that system: a promising deal fell apart when the engine flagged the negotiation thread as too long and canceled the process, leaving our club shorthanded for competition.
Match simulation is the demo's most interesting and most inconsistent component. The engine renders maps in 3D and simulates player movement, engagements, utility usage and decision-making. Many confrontations happen in reasonable locations on the map, and the AI occasionally behaves like human teams in terms of positioning and choices.
At the same time, match behavior can swing wildly. There are rounds where defenders refuse to retake a clear site, or where a lone pistol-wielding attacker manages improbable outcomes. Tactical plans you set as manager — balanced, aggressive, or controlling — are often ignored by the simulated players, who frequently improvise or select roles unpredictably.
The tactical editor does allow granular adjustments for different round types: pistol, full buy, eco, and force-buy scenarios can each be assigned bespoke plans. That system shows promise, especially for players who enjoy constructing schemes, but its current enforcement is weak because the AI will sometimes disregard the assigned plans in favor of ad-hoc decisions.
Visually, watching simulated rounds unfold is immersive when the engine lines up. Player paths, grenade usage and firefights look convincing at times, and there are moments when the simulation mirrors decisions made by real teams. However, the disconnect between manager intent and player execution limits the satisfaction of those sequences.
Outside the competitive aspect there are mundane but humorous management choices — like whether to upgrade hotel accommodations for players — that add a slice of realism and resource-management flavor to the experience. These small touches help flesh out life as an esports GM when they work properly.
Overall, this demo should be treated as exactly that: a preview of mechanics and scope, not a finished game. The core idea — a management sim built squarely around modern esports and CS2 — is appealing and uncommon, but the demo lays bare a number of data quality issues, AI inconsistencies and UX rough edges that need polishing.
We'll be watching for the full release on Steam and plan to test the completed product when it launches. Esports Manager 2026 has potential as one of the few games dedicated to managing esports teams rather than simulating traditional sports, but it needs stronger data integrity and a more reliable simulation layer before it can stand alongside genre staples. For now, treat the demo as an early look with promise and clear room for improvement.