Eidos has broken its long silence on the next instalment of the Championship Manager series by announcing that the 2009 version has received an extended development deadline to “give consumers a reason to believe in Championship Manager once again.”

Championship Manager 09 is scheduled for release in April 2009, going against the profitable habit of releasing annual soccer management sims around the same time as the UK soccer season opens. But London-based developer Beautiful Game Studios believes that the extended development period will ultimately benefit the software. The game will feature a complete graphical overhaul as well as an entirely new 3D match engine, and Eidos claims that the game engine uses over 500 motion-captured animations per player.

"This is a new beginning for the Championship Manager franchise and we are 100% focused on getting it right, that's why we have had a longer development time than any previous version of the game,” commented Beautiful Game Studios’ general manager Roy Meredith. 

The Champ Man series has fallen in popularity ever since previous developer Sports Interactive walked away from the Eidos-owned brand to develop the popular Football Manager series. Touching on Champ Man's  declining reputation, Meredith said “this is our opportunity to give consumers a reason to believe in Championship Manager once again. After 4 years of mid-table mediocrity, we're making great strides to become genuine title contenders."