Movie Games responds to DDS creator’s claims with $1.2M fine, saying they aren’t valid

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Recently, the relationship between Byterunners, creators of Drug Dealer Simulator, and their publisher, Movie Games, has become quite complex. The issue stemmed from the launch of Schedule I on Steam in April, which quickly became popular. Subsequently, Movie Games initiated an investigation into Schedule I as some players were drawing parallels between it and the Drug Dealer Simulator series. This caused a misunderstanding among players who started to leave negative reviews on both DDS games, unaware that their publisher, not the developers, was responsible. After several months, Byterunners have decided to take legal action against Movie Games. Yesterday, Movie Games issued an official statement regarding the situation.

DDS developer demands 40% of profits, publisher fights back with $1.2M fine

When the DDS series was subjected to review bombing, Movie Games intervened to clarify matters concerning Schedule I. They made it clear that there wasn’t any lawsuit happening, just an internal examination. As a publicly traded company, they were obligated to carry out this investigation as a standard practice and report it through authorized stock market channels.

Rafal Pecherzewski, the mastermind behind “Drug Dealer Simulator,” is advocating for a 40% share of console profits, citing Poland’s “bestseller clause” as evidence that his compensation has been inadequate. Moreover, he is seeking remuneration for work on “DDS2” that remains uncompensated. Interestingly, Pecherzewski maintains that he hasn’t relinquished copyright to Movie Games, while Movie Games contends that the contracts grant them complete rights, encompassing console releases as well.

According to Pecherzewski, discussions with Movie Games commenced following the discovery of a pending article about the dispute. However, these negotiations soon collapsed. After the article’s publication on September 8th, Movie Games enforced a ban on Byterunners from the official DDS Discord and restricted their access to assets for DDS 1 and 2. Now, he shares that the studio is prepared to escalate the issue in court and provides an update on X, detailing the current situation.

Not long after, Movie Games released a statement, saying:

On September 10, 2025, Movie Games S.A., based in Warsaw, also known as the “Issuer” or “Company”, has announced that they have issued a debt note with penalty clauses to Mr. Rafal Pecherzewski. This action was taken due to his inability to remove several bugs from Drug Dealer Simulator 2, games that he developed under DDS1 and DDS2.

The contractual penalties have been calculated at PLN 4,503,276.00.

The approximate amount is about one million two hundred thirty-five thousand dollars. Furthermore, Movie Games asserts that Pecherzewski’s allegations lack any legal foundation, given the terms of their agreements.

In response to the inquiry, it was clarified that under both DDS1 and DDS2 agreements, copyrights for Pecherzewski’s work were assigned to the company. This encompasses the ability to make changes, adaptations, or produce derivative works. Consequently, the company holds exclusive control over console versions, eliminating the need for further approval from him.

In this case, the company asserts that the “best-seller provision” in Polish copyright law (Article 44) is not applicable, because Pecherzewski was already adequately compensated for both DDS1 and DDS2, with profit-sharing from sales, and there’s no proof his income was unfairly low compared to the benefits the company gained.

Byterunners haven’t responded to Movie Games’ statement yet.

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2025-09-11 12:33