Every time there is a popular indie, countless similar titles pop up. I would know it well, as I’ve been obsessed with the all the Vampire Survivors-inspired bullet heaven games. I even listed over two dozen of the best titles in the genre on Xbox! Schedule I is a quite unique game, allowing players to manufacture and distribute drugs solo or in co-op. It is easily one of the most viral new games this year, and as such, it has inspired various other titles. Unfortunately, an intentionally misleading Schedule I knock-off appeared on Xbox yesterday – and it’s not even the first time!
Copycats
This viral indie by Australian dev TVGS has took Steam by storm, peaking at nearly 460k concurrent players, selling over 8 million copies, and amassing over 245k reviews to this day. As of today, however, Schedule I is only available on PC, with no console ports announced. That hasn’t stopped Polish indie developer SimulaMaker from releasing a game named “Schedule I: Dope Empire™” on Xbox. It’s not even a Creators Program from someone without an Xbox devkit – this is a game that inevitably managed to get through some sort of certification process.
As said, there is nothing inherently wrong with games that are blatantly inspired by others. That is how genres evolve, and we wouldn’t have the videogame industry today if others didn’t copy games like Super Mario Bros., Tetris or Doom. But I draw the line at being intentionally misleading. Calling your own, unrelated game Schedule I with a different subtitle, and even having the audacity of using a trademark symbol, is really not okay. I can absolutely see a lot of players mistakenly thinking that SimulaMaker’s game is “that viral indie they heard about it”.
Do better
Let me emphasize – Schedule I: Dope Empire™ is not related to the fantastic Schedule I in any way. It is merely a different developer trying to mislead buyers into buying a game with a very similar premise, comparable artstyle and near identical title. For all I know, maybe this knock-off may even be a decent game. But that’s not really the point here. It is very obviously a title not trying to sell via its own merits, but via misleading buyers. And shockingly, it’s not even the first time this happened to Schedule I. Back in June, another knock-off title by a different developer named Schedule I – Drug Dealer popped up on Xbox.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it is said. But there is a huge difference between inspiration and scheming. Please don’t fall for these Schedule I knock-offs. If said viral indie comes to consoles one day, you’ll hear about it from us for sure. In the meantime, please don’t support such obviously scummy tactics.
