From Solo Hobby Project To Real Game Studio
Schedule 1 turned a lot of heads in 2025. On the surface it looks like a low fidelity drug dealing simulator, but it quickly climbed to the top of Steam's global best selling chart and proved it was much more than a meme game.
Created by a solo developer known as Tyler, Schedule 1 hooked players with engaging systems and smart progression. It is a management style game about building and running a drug empire, and despite its simple visuals it landed firmly in the "really good game" category for many PC players.
Less than a year after launch, that success has now transformed Tyler's one person operation into a real studio with a real office and a growing team.
TVGS Gets An Office And A Team
Tyler develops under the name TVGS, which stands for Tyler's Video Game Studio. For a long time that studio was just him working solo, but he has now announced that TVGS has become, in his words, an actual game studio.
Here is what has changed:
- TVGS now has a physical office in Sydney.
- A new developer named Rob has joined the team.
- The studio is actively recruiting a 3D and technical artist.
- By the end of the year, Tyler expects around four people to be working on Schedule 1.
Tyler shared the news with the community on Steam along with photos of the new space. It is a surprisingly large office for such a small team, but it looks like a comfortable environment to build out the future of the game. He even mentioned plans to put a beer pong table in the middle of the office, leaning into the casual indie studio vibe.
In his message to players, Tyler made it clear that this upgrade is entirely thanks to the support the game has received on PC. He thanked everyone who bought and played Schedule 1, saying that their support allowed him to grow the team, rent a proper office, and turn what started as a hobby into a full time career.
For players who enjoy following the stories behind their favorite games, this is exactly the kind of indie success arc that feels great to watch: a small, weird PC game that finds its audience and gives its creator the freedom to keep improving it.
Updates, Mod Support, And The Future Of Schedule 1
The good news for existing players is that this growth is not just about office photos and hiring posts. Tyler also laid out what is coming next for the game itself.
First up is a new patch that is focused on polish rather than big new features. The upcoming update targets bugs and quality of life improvements, tightening the overall experience and smoothing out rough edges in the current build.
Alongside this patch, part of the month is being dedicated to getting Rob, the new developer, fully up to speed on the codebase. That might sound like boring behind the scenes work, but it matters a lot for the long term health of the game. Sharing knowledge and refactoring systems now makes it easier to expand and maintain Schedule 1 in the future.
Tyler described this as the final round of major refactoring for the game. The goal is to leave the project in a strong technical position for ongoing development. There is another important reason for this cleanup work too: it is a vital step toward proper mod support.
For many PC players, modding can dramatically extend a game's lifespan. Opening the door to modders can lead to new content, balance tweaks, total conversions, and strange experiments that keep a game alive for years. The fact that Tyler is planning for proper mod support suggests that Schedule 1 is not just a quick early access hit, but a platform he wants to build on and let the community help shape.
After the bug fix and quality of life patch, the plan is to deliver another update that adds more significant changes or content. Tyler tentatively pointed to late February as the target window, but he was very careful not to hard commit to that date.
He noted that earlier updates slipped past their original timelines and that he has learned from those delays. The new approach is to avoid promising specific dates until the team is confident they can hit them. For players, that means fewer disappointing delays and more realistic expectations for when new features will land.
This cautious mindset stands in contrast to some infamous stories in PC game development history. The article that reported on TVGS's expansion mentioned Ion Storm as a reminder of what can happen when early success leads to uncontrolled growth, big offices, and unrealistic ambitions. Tyler seems to be taking a more grounded route, closer to the low key style of developers like Eric Barone, the solo creator of Stardew Valley who famously stayed modest even after selling millions of copies.
With a new office, a growing team, and a roadmap that focuses on stability, mod support, and careful planning, Schedule 1 is in a strong position as it continues its early access journey. For PC players who enjoy deep management games, strange concepts, and watching indie projects evolve, it is definitely one to keep on the radar.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/schedule-1-developer-tvgs-is-an-actual-game-studio-now-with-an-office-desks-and-a-new-guy-named-rob-by-the-end-of-the-year-there-will-likely-be-4-people-working-on-schedule-1/
