Publisher Eidos is now offering pre-orders for Beautiful Game Studios' upcoming Championship Manager 2010 for as little at 1p plus a £2.50 transaction fee.

The move is a first in the videogame industry and echoes a similar initiative launched by Radiohead last year when the band released the album In Rainbows.

"This is the best Championship Manager the studio has ever made and we want as many people as possible to try the full new game," said Championship Manager general manager Roy Meredith.

"The 'pay what you want' promotion will run until midnight on September 10," said Eidos. "All fans need to pay is a £2.50 transaction fee plus any additional amount of their choice, starting from just a penny before the game will be available for full price from all good retailers."

Championship Manager 2010 will also feature CM Season Live - additional downloadable content updated each month with real player data and information - at £5 for six updates.

The full version of Championship Manager 2010 is out on September 11.