Schedule I Is Already More Popular Than Assassin’s Creed Shadows...

How does a game made by one guy and a composer outperform a multi-million dollar AAA(A?) title from Ubisoft?

...and no, that’s not a rhetorical question — it just happened.

A little indie title called Schedule I just launched with an Overwhelmingly Positive 99% rating on Steam, based on over 2,300 user reviews, and hit an insane 68,000 concurrent players on it's FIRST day.

Meanwhile, Assassin’s Creed Shadows — a game with a massive marketing budget and a (historically) legacy franchise behind it — has struggled to even capture anywhere near the same levels of authentic enthusiasm. Imagine being Ubisoft right now wondering where everything must have gone wrong...

Let’s be honest: Schedule I is already more popular, and here’s why that matters.

This Game Came Out of LITERALLY NOWHERE

I hadn’t even heard of Schedule I until I was livestreaming and told about it from JayViper, and judging by the reactions online, I wasn’t alone. Most people were asking, “How did this game blow up so fast?”

Turns out, the answer is... twofold: It has a VERY successful demo with reportedly over 1.7 million players, and a couple of massive streamers lighting the match to ignite it.

Streamers like Caseoh, who brought in over 60,000 viewers, and xQc, who followed up with another 30,000, put this game in front of the perfect audience. And in these cases, unlike a lot of influencer-driven launches, people actually stuck around — because the game is apparently, just that fun.

I Haven’t Played It Yet… But I’m Already Impressed

Here’s the crazy part — I haven’t even played Schedule I yet. I covered it on my stream, and during that coverage, the chat gifted me the game live. That’s how much people believe in it (and really want me to play it, lol). That speaks volumes.

From everything I’ve seen, Schedule I blends open-world crime, co-op multiplayer, property management, alongside a sort of laid-back, self-aware tone that makes it stand out in a sea of overly serious, politically driven titles. I joked on stream that this is a prime example of why Ubisoft loses. While graphics are always nice, at the end of the day, for actual gamers, its about the gameplay. People care about the FUN in the games. Games like Yasuke Simulator already surpassed Assassin's Creed Shadows in viewers over on Twitch, and now we have this other Indie title, Schedule I that is DWARFING AC Shadows in the most embarrassing way.

Unlike Ubisoft’s tired formula of cinematic fluff and DEI-riddled checkbox content, this one, at least from the trailer and word on the street, strikes me as a breath of fresh air. Made with true passion from the developer, and it shows.

No Sweet Baby Inc. Required

This isn’t some DEI-boosted, corporate focus-tested project. It’s not trying to tick boxes or get "Kotaku’s" approval. No, which is why you'd be hard pressed to see any massive outlets even recognize this game. They will (eventually), because it's already getting too big to ignore. I am curious as to how they approach talking about it, if only for my own personal lols.

Schedule I is what happens when a developer builds a game for actual gamers. While it by all accounts puts together it's parts in a very addictive way, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s part of its charm. Oh, and no microtransactions? Sign me up.

I’ve seen the dev replying directly to people on Steam forums, helping, thanking, and engaging. You really don't get that kind of passion or any kind of transparency from Ubisoft. No... Instead, you get pre-rendered trailers, controversies galore, and an $80 Deluxe Edition of a game people are already wary of.

The AC Shadows Comparison Is Brutal

Compare the launch buzz for Schedule I to Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and it’s a hysterical night and day difference. Ubisoft’s AC Shadows has been drowning in controversy, backlash, and skepticism. Meanwhile, we have this Schedule I game riding high with genuine player love, viral momentum, and actual gameplay doing the heavy lifting. Not the graphics.

Ubisoft might not want to hear this, but "Schedule I" has already won. Not just in numbers, but in spirit, execution, and most of all player trust.

Final Thoughts

A solo dev just stomped on a billion-dollar publisher’s flagship franchise — and I gotta be honest - I'm all here for it. Not to say I don't want successful AAA Games in the game space. Not at all. This is hopefully a good area that Ubisoft can review and wonder how they can be better next go around... if they can survive that long.

Schedule I isn’t just a breakout hit — it’s a wake-up call. From what I've witnessed out there, gamers are done with bloated, performative corporate nonsense. We want fun, community, and honesty. And Schedule I appears to immediately deliver on all three.

So while Ubisoft is busy explaining why Assassin’s Creed needs a 2+ hour credit roll, this one-man dev team is quietly ...changing the game.

~Smash