ranzware
As the negative Steam reviews continue to pile up, Drug Dealer Simulator publisher Movie Games SA has addressed the controversy surrounding its investigation into the indie hit Schedule I with a simple, straightforward message on the DDS 2 Steam page: “There is no lawsuit.”
It’s been a rough couple days for Movie Games SA: The company confirmed yesterday that it is conducting an investigation of Schedule I over “potential infringement” of its Drug Dealer Simulator IP, “including elements of the game’s plot, mechanics, as well as [the] UI.” It also said that no legal action against Schedule I had been taken, which was confirmed by Schedule 1 creator Tyler of TVGS, and that it was undertaking the investigation as part of its “legal obligations.”
It was a bit of nuance that didn’t really land with gamers, who immediately slammed Drug Dealer Simulator and DDS 2 with hundreds of negative reviews—in the case of the original, enough to drag it down from a “very positive” overall rating to “mostly positive.” Many of those negative reviews complained that Movie Games SA was suing TVGS, even though that’s not currently happening.
Which brings us to today’s update. It’s largely a repeat of the information shared by Movie Games SA yesterday, but with an emphasis on one particular point:
“There is no lawsuit,” the update says, boldface and all, both in the post’s title and its accompanying image. “It is not our intention to prevent TVGS from selling or developing their game.
“There is an investigation into the nature of similarities between the games since a preliminary legal analysis indicated there might have been an infringement. 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.”
The update also notes that the information about the investigation was only shared via Poland’s ESPI, a stock market communications system “where we are obligated to publish such information for full transparency,” and that it was picked up from there by media outlets, and “in some cases wrongly reported as a lawsuit.”
There’s no specific request to end the review bombing campaign on Steam, but the message is clearly damage control, with an implied “please stop” very clear throughout.
But it doesn’t appear to be having the intended effect: There are a few messages here and there in the replies to the update acknowledging that the needs of publicly traded companies make Movie Games’ explanation at least plausible, but by and large the responses do not reflect a widespread urge to forgive and forget.
I don’t know international copyright law (or the details of this specific case) well enough to judge the actually necessity of the investigation, and the timing of the investigation does seem a bit, well, questionable: There are dozens of drug dealer sim games on Steam, but only one of them is parked near the top of Steam’s most-played chart, ahead of Path of Exile 2, Marvel Rivals, and even Bongo Cat.
In that light, it’s not hard to see why some people might imagine that Movie Games SA was digging for a piece of the action and got caught, and is now trying to clean it up with claims about regulatory responsibility. At the same time, there’s no question that it is as Movie Games says: What happens in the future is yet to be determined, but for now, there is no lawsuit. Until the company confirms that there will never be a lawsuit, though, I suspect it’s not going to matter.
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Kurt Indovina
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