Due to the game's two year development time, developers Beautiful Game Studios implemented several new features to football management games.
3D match engine
The match engine underwent a radical overhaul with the result being a fully animated match engine with over 500 individual player animations. There are seven different camera angles, replays and the ability to record and re-watch matches. This helps the Manager to see how their decisions and instructions manifest themselves on the playing fieldin 3D.
Set Piece creator
This feature enables managers to create Set Pieces. You can call upon all the individual strengths of your squad members to produce the perfectly executed free kick. The creator splits the set piece into a number of stages so managers can fine tune every crucial step from passing direction, cross/chips and runs to coordinating your defence when a corner is taken against you.
Scouting network
Scouting for new players is now a more accessible feature. Managers are given a world map view of their knowledge of different countries and expenditure allocation. Scouts report back the up-and-coming star players from around the world allowing you to dedicate more of your time to other areas.
Drill training
Managers can now set up drills to see how their players match up against each other – shooting, crossing, practice matches and much more all shown in the three-dimensional match engine.
CM Season Live
A first in the football management genre, CM Season Live is a monthly downloadable update which brings you all the latest events from the world of football, dropping you into the action at key defining moments in the season.
Mail and media
A huge range of messaging in the game enables you to have far greater access to information and news from within the game's world of football. Broadcasting real media references, the latest CM news system delivers in a wide variety of ways. The user gets all the information and news that's relevant to their game in order to maximise their potential as a manager.
A dynamically updated display window brings a real world likeness to the user. Managers will be able to look out on the latest league tables, fixtures, top goal scorers and more from their in-game football world. Coverage from every part of the globe will appear throughout the game on every screen.
ProZone
ProZone continues to evolve to enable users to access highly detailed, post-match analysis on their players. With full stats on their own team and the opposition, the manager has the complete picture of personal and team performances to aid their decisions.
Development
Originally named Championship Manager 2009, the game was renamed due to a change in release dates. Championship Manager 2010 is the first game in the series to have a 2-year development time. This is due to recent versions in the series not being critically successful for publisher Eidos Interactive, who admitted that the franchise had lost direction in recent years and that the publisher was determined to make the game a "strong alternative" to Sega's Football Manager. The release date was originally April 2009 but was pushed back to September 11, 2009 to polish the game properly. A Beta version PC Demo was released for players to test and report back problems to the developers in time for the final version release. On 18 August 2009, Eidos Interactive announced fans would be able to buy the game for as little as 1p along with a £2.50 'transaction fee'. This is the first time any video games publisher has done this.
Championship Manager 2010 has received more positive reviews than previous versions of the Championship Manager series. Eurogamer gave the game an 8 out of 10 stating "For the first time, the Championship Manager series is a viable alternative to Football Manager... CM10's attempts to innovate must be applauded, and the majority of its refinements are either solid additions or real winners. MSN UK also applauded the game and concluded "Once you get stuck into a season, it is fearsomely addictive, and all aspects of football management are present and correct, if not necessarily developed to Football Manager’s level of sophistication. It is a lot more forgiving than Football Manager... If that doesn’t bother you, it’s worth considering for the first time in years." Now Gamer gave the game a 7.3 out of 10 concluding "Championship Manager 2010 – particularly with its impressive highlights engine – manages to land a good few solid punches, and gives the Sports Interactive team something to genuinely mull over. For Championship Manager is now in the finest shape it’s been in for half a decade, and there are more solid foundations for next year’s edition to be built on." UK news siteThe Guardian gave the game 4 out 5 stars and concluded that "If you seek a straight-down-the-line football management experience that tests your powers of wheeler-dealing, man-management, tactics and training, then you will find Championship Manager thoroughly satisfying...At last, the beloved old stager has found a hint of its previous form."
Sales
General Manager of Beautiful Game Studios, Roy Meredith, claimed the 'Pay What You Want' promotion for Championship Manager 2010 had "exceeded" expectations. In its first two weeks of release the game held the No.1 spot in the PC Retail charts. In its third week the game slipped to No. 2. After over four months of being sold, the game dropped out of the Top 10 Retail PC Games chart.
