[Yankee Hotel Foxtrot]

Hi everyone,

As someone who’s been enjoying OOTP more and more over the years, I’ve been thinking about how this game fits into my routine and how differently people around here experience it. With OOTP 27 on the horizon — and some understandable uncertainty after the recent ownership changes — I wanted to put a few thoughts together. Not as a complaint or suggestion list, but simply as one player trying to understand where things are heading and how the community fits into that picture.

These are just reflections from someone who cares about the game and wants to see it continue to grow in a way that feels steady and purposeful

To the Community

One thing that’s clear from reading threads here is that people use OOTP in very different ways. Some dive deep into historical setups, some build fictional leagues, some focus on Perfect Team, and many sit quietly in the background just enjoying their own style of play.
Not everyone posts their methods or views in detail — which makes sense. A lot of players are in online leagues, and there’s a natural instinct to protect strategies or routines. Others prefer to read rather than comment. The forum has a lot of silent traffic and fewer long-form breakdowns, but the interest is there.
Even so, when someone does share a mod, a guide, a workflow, or even a simple troubleshooting step, it often becomes something the wider player base quietly relies on. It’s not loud, but it is valuable.

To the Developers

The quieter nature of the forum doesn’t mean players are disengaged. If anything, the opposite seems true: people care, but they don’t always put everything on display. When they do share critiques or frustrations, it’s usually because OOTP has already become part of their routine — something they invest time and thought into.
And with OOTP 27 on the horizon, and with the recent ownership changes, there’s a fair amount of curiosity about the long-term direction of the game.
Not in a “give us a roadmap” way.
Not in a “promise features” way.
More in the sense of:
What does the future look like in broad terms?
What’s the long-term aspiration for OOTP?
Where is the series aiming to grow?
Even high-level insight would go a long way toward keeping players confident and grounded. Most people aren’t asking for specifics — just reassurance that the game is still evolving with intention.
This community is actually very reasonable when given context. Players don’t want to control development, but they do want to understand the direction enough to align their feedback and expectations.

To Both the Community and the Team

OOTP has always sat in an unusual spot: it’s a deep, niche sports sim with a dedicated but fairly quiet fanbase. The relationship between players and developers matters more here than in many other games because the depth of OOTP means people build entire personal workflows, stories, and traditions around it.
A bit more shared context — from both sides — would strengthen that relationship.
Players benefit from knowing the general direction.
Developers benefit from clearer, more aligned feedback.
Modders benefit from better understanding what’s stable versus what may change.
And new players benefit from a community that feels steady and informed.

A Note of Appreciation

Finally, thank you — to the people who do contribute here in whatever way they feel comfortable, and to the developers who keep building a game with unusual depth and staying power. Even when OOTP shows age or limitations, it still provides something many other games don’t: a sandbox that grows with the player over years, not weeks.
Whatever comes next for OOTP 27 and beyond, there are players here — vocal or quiet — who simply want to understand the journey and be part of it in their own way.


— A fellow OOTP player