Football Manager is often a popular game on torrent sites, but the massive piracy was partly prevented with Football Manager 2012 which led to 17 new faces at Sports Interactive.
Football Manager 2012 managed to go two weeks without being cracked, and according to studio director Miles Jacobson that was long enough to get enugh for money for more hires.
"Last year the measures we took meant the game wasn't pirated for two weeks," said Jacobson to MCV.
"And the extra sales we got in that two weeks is why we have managed to hire more staff this year. The new game has a new system being used, and as of the time of talking the beta hadn't been cracked. If we can hold a few more weeks, it would be a benefit to retail and ourselves. And ultimately the customer, because once again if we do much better this year, we will invest that back into the studio, take on more people and more features."
Jacobson added that they expect Football Manager 2013 to be the most successful game in the series.