There's drama in the PC gaming, meth cooking world, and it's all about whether or not the latest Steam craze, Schedule 1, is getting sued by the publishers of Drug Dealer Simulator, Movie Games. After some review bombing of its titles Movie Games has now come forward to clarify the situation, stating that currently, there is no lawsuit against the creators of Schedule 1.
Movie Games suggested that the confused reports were probably the result of attempts to translate the news from the original Polish source of the information, but added that it was investigating the similarities between the games.
"Due to repeated opinions that Schedule I is very similar to DDS, we were obliged to request a legal analysis from an intellectual property specialist. It has indicated that there might have been an infringement by the Schedule I developers in relation to Drug Dealer Simulator," said Movie Games spokesperson Michal P (AKA Movie Games head of marketing Michał Puczyński) in a Discord post on Sunday.
"Now we are obliged to follow up further, but we are yet to contact the Schedule I developers. Our goal at this point is discussing the situation with them and we have an open approach."
Drug Dealer Simulator was released in 2020 and like Schedule 1, focuses on the mechanics of producing and selling illegal substances. While the subject matter is similar, Drug Dealer Simulator leans into a more realistic look while Schedule 1 has a look that screams "what if I designed Rick and Morty while having a nervous breakdown?"
Michal P went on to assure gamers that "it is not our intention to prevent TVGS from selling or developing their game." He also made clear that Drug Dealer Simulator's developers, ByteRunners, had no role in the decision to investigate.
"Overall, our goal is to support all devs, but we need to consider our legal obligations if law specialists determine that there are grounds to claim infringement. We even contacted TVGS via email just before the release, when the game was already huge, and wished them all the best - but that was before that legal analysis. Back then no one expected it to be needed, not to mention that it would bring these results."
So good news for Schedule 1 addicts who, at least for now, go back to growing Coca Leaves for completely innocent reasons.
Rachel Weber is the Senior Editorial Director of Games at IGN and an elder millennial. She's been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, and French Bulldogs. Those extra wrinkles on her face are thanks to staying up too late finishing every sidequest in RPGs like Fallout and Witcher 3.
