The eternal rule is that if an indie game truly pops off, there's bound to be a ton of knockoffs and ripoffs following in its footsteps to try to get in on that wave. Vampire Survivors' creator Luca Galante said his game was "lucky" to cut through the the influx of mobile knockoffs, and there's no doubt countless devs feel the same way. And as the biggest indie breakout of 2025 so far, Schedule 1 is already facing the same problem.
The drug dealing simulator, which launched onto Steam earlier this year, is currently exclusive to PC, but due to the terrible standards of the console marketplaces, ripoffs have already been emerging. PS5 saw "Schedule 1: Syndicate" and "Dope Wars: Schedule 1" looking to nab the money of people who maybe aren't quite as familiar with games. And now, a day after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, we already have a new Schedule 1 knockoff making the rounds on the eShop.
Schedule 1 - Mafia Empire appeared on the eShop today, June 6, available for the Switch but with Switch 2 compatibility, and published by UIGAMES (not TVGS, who made the real game).
If the name wasn't enough, the key art, which I'm not 100% sure is AI, but has the generic uncanny feeling that stinks of AI art, is a dead remake of the actual art, featuring a character pointing a gun with a smoke in his mouth and with plants in the background. Except they've inexplicably given them a banana for a gun and also a rastacap.
In the past, Tyler, the creator of Schedule 1, has said that he'd "love to port Schedule I to console when the game is at the right stage for that." With the game still in early access, it may be a while until that happens. The full release is set for around 2027 according to the game's Steam page.
And until Nintendo and Sony get better quality checks for their stores, this is sadly inevitable for now.
