„There is no lawsuit,” just an investigation - Movie Games explains the situation with Schedule I
What’s actually happening with Movie Games, Schedule I, and Drug Dealer Simulator. Here’s what needs clarification and why.
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Last Friday, everyone was talking about 2, and now both games have mostly negative recent reviews on Steam. The publisher has since shared more details.
No lawsuit, just an investigation
According to the email we received from Movie Games, there’s no lawsuit against the Schedule I developer. They’re not trying to stop TVGS from selling their game either. The investigation is all about checking out the similarities between Schedule I and the Drug Dealer Simulator series. Apparently, some initial legal analysis suggested there might’ve been an infringement, so they’re looking into it now.
Things really blew up because the news was shared through ESPI, a stock market communication system that Movie Games had to use for transparency. In their email, the publisher explains:
The analysis and investigation were necessary in the light of repeating opinions that the games are very similar. By not investigating it, Movie Games, being a publicly traded company, could face severe consequences for negligence.
Not publishing it (the decision to start an investigation) would also be a case of negligence. From there it was picked up by the media and, in some cases, wrongly reported as a lawsuit.
All of this is being handled by Movie Games, the publisher, not Byterunners, the developer of Drug Dealer Simulator series, who’s now getting all the heat. Apparently, these are just the rules the publisher had to follow, but unfortunately, the dev team is getting blamed by players for something they’re not even involved in. It’s pretty unfair, especially since their games are getting review bombed because of the whole situation.
Michal Puczynski, who handles marketing at Movie Games, said that so far, the company hasn’t reached out to the Schedule I developer about this investigation. However, before the game’s launch, the Polish company sent TVGS a friendly message, wishing them success. The developer of Schedule I confirmed this with PC Gamer, adding that people from Movie Games also shared their thoughts on the game's demo. That was the last time the two sides had any .
