Indie drug-dealing simulator Schedule 1 has shot up the Steam charts, with over 130,000 players signing up within the first two days in early access since March 24, 2025. The combination of business management, tactical strategy, and dark comedy in a fictional city called Hyland Point has found its players very positively received, achieving a peak of 414,166 concurrent players on Steam.

However, this sudden rise has not escaped everyone without detection. Movie Games S.A., the publisher behind the 2020 title Drug Dealer Simulator, has commenced an investigation of Schedule 1 in relation to possible infringement of copyright. The developers claim that some of the elements of Schedule 1 may be similar to their game, especially in gameplay and UI. However, no formal legal action has been taken, and the outcome of the investigation is still up in the air.

This has caused a backlash from the gaming community. Many fans of Schedule 1 have been displeased with the way that fans of S1 have flooded Drug Dealer Simulator with negative reviews on Steam, accusing Movie Games S.A. of trying to stifle competition. To that, Movie Games S.A. clarified that they are a company listed on the stock exchange, and they are supposed to check if there are any intellectual property infringements, but they have not launched any lawsuits.

The gaming community follows this unfolding situation to see how this drug dealing vs drug dealing debacle is going to turn out.

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