Schedule 1’s hot start was met with an investigation by Drug Dealer Simulator publisher Movie Games. Despite talk of infringement and copyright, the company is not looking to sue developer TVGS, but this hasn’t stopped users from review bombing DDS.
I’m not even sure where to begin with the latest development in this fascinating saga. Schedule 1 took 2025 by storm and is raking in nearly half a million players at its peak—several weeks after launch. Players were happily figuring out how to drop items and make the best weed.
But news broke of an ongoing investigation by rival title Drug Dealer Simulator into “similarities” between the franchises. Fervid fans jumped to Schedule 1’s defense by review bombing the DDS games on Steam. However, Drug Dealer Simulator publisher Movie Games has addressed the ongoing controversy.
Drug Dealer Simulator Publisher Not Suing Schedule 1?
In a statement on April 8, Movie Games posted to its official X channel. The wording read: “We’d like to address the Schedule 1 / Drug Dealer Simulator situation and share some facts.”
The company made it abundantly clear, “There is no lawsuit,” and it’s not the company’s intention to “Prevent TVGS from selling or developing their game [Schedule 1].” The statement goes on to say the investigation is being conducted because of the similarities, and “Movie Games, being a publicly traded company, could face severe litigation for negligence.“
Simply, shareholders and parties with a vested interest in Movie Games could take exception to the company’s inability to defend its game against perceived copyright infringement. Movie Games believes this led to the media incorrectly labeling the situation “as a lawsuit.”
Movie Games states, “There is no ill will toward TVGS,” and they “Emailed them best wishes shortly before the release.“
So, it doesn’t matter how the public interprets Schedule 1’s content concerning the Drug Dealer Simulator games, a legal precedent has automatically forced Movie Games’ hand.
A statement regarding the Schedule I / Drug Dealer Simulator situation.
We don’t have an exact timeline on this, but there’s a good chance the statement came out following the relentless review bombing of Drug Dealer Simulator on Steam. Recent reviews for both DDS 1 and DDS 2 are “Overwhelmingly Negative” with criticisms mostly aimed toward the lawsuit controversy, rather than the games’ content.
The investigation obligation reveal might go some way to righting these wrongs. What we know for sure is this isn’t over, and forthcoming litigation could be inbound if the similarities are deemed too similar.
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If you’re enjoying Schedule 1, check out the game’s content roadmap and how to maximize profits.
More like they’re backtracking after the backlash. When will these companies learn that it’s their job to make games, not conduct lawfare?
They absolutely intended to sue, that was what the investigation was about. This “awe shucks y’all think too harshly of us” attitude is ridiculous, they didn’t investigate for fun, they investigated with litigious intent to take Tyler’s money. They deserve the pushback, this ain’t Nintendo and we actually care about corporate overreach and abuse out here
“we’re not sueing you… We’re just investigating to see if we can steal your profits to supplement the fact that nobody plays our game.”
That’s funny, because they definitely went after the much smaller and much more successful game studio. This is not typical business practice. This is just greed and selfish behavior. I’m glad that the community stood up for Schedule 1.