Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream.
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Farming simulators are often the most popular games on Steam at any given time. Stardew Valley helped usher in a cozy game renaissance, as the genre proved it was always alive and well; it just needed a jolt.
That includes this upcoming game debuting on Steam in 2026. It's a free farming simulator that blends elements of Grand Theft Auto in ways you wouldn't reasonably expect.
DRUG Schedule Is A Farming Sim... Kind Of
There's A Catch
DRUG Schedule from CrimsonRoute Games is slated for a 2026 release, and the premise says it all:
Build your empire! Cook and make illegal drugs, expand your cartel, and outsmart rivals and law enforcement. Play solo or team up in co-op to dominate the underworld! Your empire, your rules. Rise to power! Don't get high on your own dope!
Like many other farming simulators, you'll start at nothing, in an empty room with a burner phone and a "head full of ambition." You'll need to cook batches, then also sell them to "claw your way up the criminal food chain." Think of it like Dave the Diver's breakdown of earning items to sell later.
A "deep crafting system" is promised, with the ability to make whatever quality recipe you want, and the GTA elements are hyped up a bit with mention of "heat" ratings and tangling with law enforcement as well as rival gangs. It all sounds incredibly ambitious, but it might get a bit more attention at launch due to its monetization scheme.
It'll Be Free To Play
When It Launches This Year
When DRUG Schedule launches in 2026, it'll be free-to-play. Given that it'll sport 2-4 player online co-op at launch (with the ability to share labs and split profits), it's just as well, as it'll be way easier for the studio to grow a community with a free-to-play system. If you want, you can also play solo, as the game isn't completely a social experience.
Given the heavy success of Schedule 1, I can see why there are so many others attempting to disrupt the genre. It's going to be tough, though, as Schedule 1 has a dedicated community, and updates are still happening for it. With a free-to-play model, it could stand out more, especially as the year goes on, and other similar games hit the market.
As Steam powers through yet another year, it seems like it's up to the task of providing tons of weird games in addition to hosting some of the biggest AAA titles. In this case, it's almost as odd as you can get for the simulation genre.
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