How Schedule 1, a $20 Indie Game, Shattered the AAA Gaming Model

How One Dev's Passion Project Outshined $400M AAA Games

On March 24, 2025, a strange little game called Schedule 1 popped up on Steam. No ads. No influencer campaigns. Just a weird title, a humble $20 price tag, and a thumbnail that looked more GTA Chinatown Wars than God of War: Ragnarök.

Fast forward a month—and Schedule 1 wasn’t just popular. It destroyed the competition, outselling Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, a $400 million mega-project from Ubisoft.

How did a solo-developed drug-dealing simulator top Steam charts and shake the AAA world to its core? It all comes down to three things: passion, price, and player-first design.

Wait—What Even Is Schedule 1?

It’s hard to imagine “cozy” and “drug empire” in the same sentence, but Schedule 1 manages to be both. You start as a small-time dealer, harvesting plants and packaging drugs in the fictional city of Highland Point. From there, you scale up, pushing harder substances, expanding your turf, and becoming the kingpin.

But this isn’t some gritty, hyperrealist game. It’s quirky. Cartoonish. Funny. The customers hallucinate. One loses an eye. Another glows neon green. Every part of the game, from its skateboards and money laundering mechanics to its oddly meditative crop-watering loop, is infused with style and soul.

Despite being about drugs, the game isn’t dark. It’s vibrant. It’s fun. It’s handcrafted chaos that somehow feels wholesome.

Built by One Dev. Outperformed 1,000.

That’s the real headline here: Schedule 1 was made by one person. One person did what massive AAA teams with hundreds of developers couldn’t—made a game that people actually loved playing.

It wasn’t the first time this happened. Think Stardew Valley. Think Undertale. Think Minecraft. But Schedule 1 is unique because it came at a moment when AAA studios were already on shaky ground.

Gamers were tired. Of bloated open worlds. Of $70 base prices, $30 DLCs, and yearly rehashes of the same IP. Of AAA games that felt more like chores than fun.

And then this little drug sim rolled in with charm, mechanics, and actual joy—and gamers said yes, please.

AAA is Burning From the Inside

Here’s the problem: AAA studios are making games for investors, not players.

Their idea of innovation? Make it bigger. Add more map. Inflate the runtime. Stretch the budget. Meanwhile, the soul of the game—the part where it’s supposed to be fun—gets lost in a fog of boardroom buzzwords and monetization models.

We’ve all felt it: wandering a giant, empty map in a lifeless open world. Clicking through recycled dialogue trees. Buying a $100 game only to be upsold 3 expansion passes.

And worst of all? These games are becoming worse, but more expensive. It’s a perfect storm—and Schedule 1 surfed the wave.

Why Indie Games Are Winning

What makes indie games like Schedule 1 so appealing?

Passion. That’s the secret sauce. Indie devs make games because they want to, not because they’re ordered to. Without investors breathing down their necks, they can take creative risks. They can focus on fun. They can actually talk to their communities and adapt.

Look at Hades. Supergiant spent two years in Early Access, shaping every detail based on player feedback. Schedule 1 followed the same model. It’s still in Early Access, and already a hit.

Indie games are agile, player-focused, and innovative. And in 2025’s economy, they’re also affordable. While AAA games push into the $100+ zone, indies keep it tight at $15–30. That’s a huge deal when gamers are picking between rent and entertainment.

The Real Difference: Who Is the Game For?

The key difference is this:

• AAA games are made to make money.
• Indie games are made to make fun.

And players can feel that.

Ubisoft, EA, Activision—they’re stuck in sequel loops, milking franchises dry while ignoring what players want. Even big releases like Cyberpunk 2077 had to claw their way back from disaster. Meanwhile, a cartoonish drug sim drops out of nowhere and reminds everyone why they started gaming in the first place.

Will AAA Learn Anything?

That’s the million-dollar question. Will Schedule 1 change the industry?

Probably not overnight. AAA studios only change when their bottom line takes a hit. And unfortunately, they’re still raking in cash from microtransactions and brand loyalty. As long as FIFA prints money, EA isn’t worried about your indie darling.

But what games like Schedule 1 do is plant seeds. They remind players of what gaming can be. They keep the pressure on. And if more breakout indies keep outperforming underwhelming blockbusters, even the suits might start listening.

Follow the Fun

Schedule 1 didn’t destroy the AAA industry because it was flashy or expensive or groundbreaking. It destroyed it by being fun.

By doing what players wanted.

By being made for the people who play it.

And that’s the biggest lesson here: when devs follow the fun—and not the money—they create games that matter. Games that people talk about. Games that people love.

The AAA industry isn't dead. But it’s been warned.

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