A new indie hit on Steam, the drug business simulator Schedule I, has attracted over 68,000 concurrent players
Steam users enthusiastically welcomed Schedule I, a drug business simulator developed by the Australian indie studio, Tyler’s Video Game Studio (TVGS). The game was released in early access on the night of March 25th and immediately made it into the top ten most popular new releases of 2025 on the platform.
Schedule I
Here's the full top 10 of games released in 2025 with the highest peak online in Steam, according to SteamDB:
1. Monster Hunter Wilds — 1,384,608 players;
2. R.E.P.O. — 271,571 players;
3. Split Fiction — 259,003 players;
4. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II — 256,206 players;
5. FragPunk — 113,946 players;
6. Sid Meier’s Civilization VII — 84,558 players;
7. DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS — 69,483 players;
8. Schedule I — 68,662 players;
9. Assassin’s Creed Shadows — 64,825 players;
10. Party Club — 40,828 players.
Schedule I's online dynamics in Steam
The game has received excellent ratings as well. At the time of writing, it holds an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating on Steam with 99% of 1.8 thousand reviews being favorable.
According to Steam Scout, 75% of all reviews are written in English. The top three also include reviews in Russian (6.78%) and German (6.24%).
In Schedule I, players take on the role of a drug dealer aiming to create their own drug cartel. Starting as a small-time dealer, they gradually set up production of illegal substances, while also engaging in shootouts with competitors. The game features both a single-player mode and a cooperative mode.
Currently, TVGS only has three staff members. As shared by the studio’s founder and main developer, known as Tyler TVGS on Reddit, the creation of Schedule I took about three years. Initially developed for PC, if the game sells well on Steam, the studio plans to attempt to release the game on PlayStation and Xbox. In any case, the developers want to focus on refining the current version of the title — with estimates suggesting Schedule I will reach full release in about two years.
In Russia, the production, distribution, acquisition, storage, transportation, processing, and promotion of narcotics are prohibited. Their use is detrimental to health.