Can I Run Schedule I on My PC / Laptop?
A first-person drug empire management sim in early access, built in Unity. It runs on modest hardware early on, but a sprawling late-game operation taxes your CPU far more than your graphics card.
Check if your PC can run Schedule I
Pick your graphics card and processor to check.
Can I run Schedule I on my PC?
Use the checker above to find out in seconds. Pick your graphics card and processor and it compares them against Schedule I's official requirements. As a quick guide, you need at least a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 graphics card, a 3GHz 4-Core or similar processor, and 8 GB RAM of RAM to play at 1080p.
Can I run Schedule I on my laptop?
Yes, if your laptop has a dedicated graphics card around a GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 or better and 8 GB RAM of RAM. Laptops with only integrated graphics usually fall short. Enter your laptop's GPU in the tool above to check. Keep in mind that the laptop version of a card runs a little slower than the desktop card of the same name, and heat can lower sustained frame rates.
Schedule I (often typed as Schedule 1) will run on most PCs from the last several years. The official minimum is a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580, and if your card clears that bar, you can play. What surprises people is that the graphics card stops being the bottleneck once your operation grows: this is a CPU-bound game, and a big late-game base with dozens of employees and properties will slow down a GTX 1060 and an RTX 4090 by roughly the same amount.
Put your CPU, GPU, and RAM into the checker above to see them measured directly against what Schedule I needs. Further down you'll find the official tiers, real frame rate ranges on common cards, an explanation of why your empire's growth eventually becomes the real bottleneck, which settings actually help, and a long FAQ covering laptops, Mac, Linux, and Steam Deck.
Schedule I system requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor (CPU) | 3GHz 4-Core or similar | 3.5GHz 6-Core or similar |
| Graphics card (GPU) | GeForce GTX 1060 6GB or Radeon RX 580 | GeForce RTX 3060 or Radeon RX 6700 |
| Memory (RAM) | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Operating system | Windows 10 (64-bit) | Windows 10 (64-bit) |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 8 GB available space | 10 GB available space |
Storage: 8 to 10 GB according to Steam, though updates and mods add a bit more over time. It runs fine from a hard drive, so an SSD is a nice-to-have, not a requirement.
Schedule I FPS by graphics card
| Graphics card | 1080p | 1440p | 4K | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 1060 6GB | ~60-70 | , | , | Comfortable early on. Falls into the 30s to 40s once you run a large late-game base, no matter the settings. |
| RX 580 | ~55-65 | , | , | Close to the GTX 1060. The official minimum card and enough for the early and mid game. |
| GTX 1650 | ~50-60 | , | , | Slightly under the 1060 but still workable at medium settings. |
| RTX 3050 | ~75-85 | , | , | Well past minimum. High settings hold up fine until your operation gets large. |
| RTX 3060 | ~95-110 | ~70-85 | , | The official recommended card. Handles a mid-sized operation at high settings without issue. |
| RTX 4060 | ~110-130 | ~85-100 | , | More GPU than this game needs early on. The ceiling later is your CPU, not this card. |
| RTX 4070 | ~130+ | ~100+ | , | Uncapped and smooth on a small save. In a huge late-game base, expect it to converge with weaker cards. |
| RTX 4090 | ~140+ | ~120+ | , | The clearest proof this is a CPU-bound game: a maxed-out save can still dip into the same range as a GTX 1060 once NPC pathfinding load spikes. |
These numbers are approximate and come from player reports and benchmark discussions, since Schedule I is early access and gets patched often. They assume a small to mid-sized save. In a large operation with many employees and properties, frame rate depends much more on your CPU and how you manage your base than on which graphics card you own.
Can these graphics cards run Schedule I?
| Graphics card | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GTX 1050 Ti | Below minimum | Beneath the bar. Very low settings, and it may not run. |
| GTX 1650 | Below minimum | Below the minimum card. Very low settings, if it runs. |
| RX 570 | Below minimum | Beneath the bar. Very low settings, and it may not run. |
| RX 580 | Below minimum | Short of minimum. Low settings, a choppy frame rate. |
| GTX 1060 6GB | Playable | Meets the bar. Low to medium settings at 1080p. |
| GTX 1650 Super | Playable | Passes minimum. Aim low to medium 1080p, upscaling helps. |
| GTX 1660 | Playable | At the minimum bar. 1080p low to medium, drop a setting if needed. |
| GTX 1660 Super | Playable | Minimum covered. 1080p low to medium is the target. |
| RTX 3050 | Playable | At the minimum bar. 1080p low to medium, drop a setting if needed. |
| GTX 1660 Ti | Playable | Runnable at minimum. Low to medium 1080p, ease settings back. |
| RX 6600 | Playable | Minimum covered. 1080p low to medium is the target. |
| RTX 2060 | Playable | Clears the minimum. 1080p low to medium, better with upscaling. |
| RTX 4050 | Playable | Meets minimum. Low to medium at 1080p, tune for a steady rate. |
| Arc A750 | Playable | Runnable at minimum. Low to medium 1080p, ease settings back. |
| RTX 3060 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| RX 6600 XT | Runs well | Over the recommended bar. Smooth high 1080p, 1440p realistic. |
| RX 7600 | Runs well | Exceeds recommended. 1080p high is comfortable, 1440p fine. |
| RX 6700 XT | Runs well | Exceeds recommended. 1080p high is comfortable, 1440p fine. |
| RTX 4060 | Runs well | Recommended tier or better. High 1080p, with room for 1440p. |
| RTX 3060 Ti | Runs well | Past the recommended tier. High settings at 1080p, 1440p on the table. |
| RTX 3070 | Runs well | Strong fit. High settings at 1080p, 1440p within reach. |
| RTX 4070 | Runs well | Over the recommended bar. Smooth high 1080p, 1440p realistic. |
Will it run, and what actually decides performance
Yes, on almost any PC built in the last decade. Schedule I is a light Unity game visually, and the official minimum of a GTX 1060 6GB, an 8GB system, and a mid-range quad-core CPU is realistic, not padded. If you meet the recommended tier of an RTX 3060 or RX 6700 and 16GB of RAM, you will run the game at high settings without a second thought for most of a normal playthrough.
What decides your actual experience is not the graphics card. It is your CPU, and specifically how many NPCs, properties, and items are active in your save at once. Schedule I is built around a growing drug empire, so the workload only goes up as you play: more employees, more warehouses, more product moving between them, more pathfinding calculations running every frame. A GTX 1060 and an RTX 4090 will look nearly identical in frame rate once a save reaches a sprawling late-game state, because both are waiting on the same CPU-bound simulation.
Why performance drops as your empire grows
The most common complaint from players with strong PCs is a save that ran fine early and now stutters or drops to the 30s and 40s despite nothing changing on the graphics side. Three things drive this, based on what players and the developer have identified. Idle employees are the biggest one: a botanist or handler who cannot work because a shelf is out of supplies or their output slot is full will still run its behavior check repeatedly, and a base with several idle workers adds up fast. The fix is simple: keep your supply chains fed, or lay off staff you are not actively using.
NPC pathfinding collisions are the second cause. When workers get stuck near each other or a doorway, the game recalculates their route many times a second to resolve it, which spikes CPU usage. Leaving real walking space between workstations and storage racks, rather than packing them tight, measurably reduces this. Third, discarded trash and small clutter items accumulate physics and rendering overhead over a long save. Cleaning up regularly, or avoiding excess clutter in busy rooms, helps more than it sounds like it should.
Settings and hardware that actually help
Because the bottleneck is usually your CPU rather than your GPU, lowering graphics settings has a real but smaller effect than in most games. Shadow Quality is the one setting that consistently frees up meaningful frame rate: dropping it from Epic to Medium has recovered over 20 fps for players on mid-range hardware. Volumetric lighting is the other one worth checking, since it uses more video memory than its visual impact suggests, and turning it off clears up micro-stutter on cards with 6GB of VRAM or less.
On the hardware side, a faster CPU matters more here than a faster GPU once your save grows large, since Schedule I only lightly threads its simulation. Setting your Windows power plan to performance mode instead of balanced has recovered 10 or more frames for some players, and it costs nothing to try. Keeping your graphics drivers current and capping your frame rate near your monitor's refresh rate also helps avoid unnecessary GPU strain without changing how the game looks.
Can I run Schedule I? Your questions answered
It meets the official minimum, but it is tight once you have a browser or Discord open alongside the game. The recommended amount is 16GB, and that is the safer target if you plan to run a large, long-term save.
About 8 to 10GB per Steam's listing, which is small for a modern game. Updates and any mods you install add a little more over time, but storage is rarely a concern here.
No. It is not required and Steam does not list one. An SSD shortens load times slightly, but a hard drive runs the game fine, since the install is small and lightly demanding.
Because the game is CPU-bound, not GPU-bound. A large save with many employees, properties, and items running pathfinding and behavior checks every frame will slow down almost any PC, including ones with high-end graphics cards. Managing idle staff, giving workers room to walk, and clearing clutter all help more than upgrading your GPU would.
Yes, for a smooth experience. The official minimum names a GTX 1060 6GB or RX 580, both dedicated cards. Weak integrated graphics can sometimes load the game but will struggle to hold a stable frame rate, especially as your operation grows.
No, it is one of the lighter games on GPU load. Most of its performance cost comes from CPU-side simulation, which is why even modest cards like a GTX 1060 hold up reasonably well for most of a playthrough.
DirectX 11, on both the minimum and recommended tiers. There is no DirectX 12-only requirement, so older graphics cards are not excluded on that basis.
It is not officially supported. The listed requirement is Windows 10 64-bit, and Unity games built for recent Windows versions frequently run into driver or compatibility issues on Windows 7. Windows 10 or 11 is the safe choice.
It can fix specific problems like save files failing to write or certain crashes, since it removes some file-permission restrictions. It is not a general performance fix, so try it only if you are hitting a specific error, not just for extra frames.
Yes. It is an active early access title and the developer has continued adjusting performance, particularly around NPC behavior and pathfinding, in updates since launch. Expect frame rate and stutter to keep shifting between patches rather than staying fixed.
The game's title uses a Roman numeral, Schedule I, but almost everyone types the number instead: Schedule 1. Both refer to the exact same game, so this page and its requirements cover either spelling.
Yes. Single-player works fully offline. An internet connection is only needed if you are hosting or joining a co-op game with other players.
Yes, on modest settings. The RTX 3050 meets what Schedule I needs at minimum, so 1080p low to medium is the sweet spot. Around 75 to 85 fps at 1080p high settings, well past what the minimum requires.
Below spec. The GTX 1650 does not clear Schedule I's minimum, so plan for low settings, low fps, or a game that will not boot. Roughly 50 to 60 fps at 1080p medium settings, workable but a step below the recommended tier.
It will run. The GTX 1060 6GB meets Schedule I's minimum, which means 1080p on low to medium and a smoother result once you lower a couple of options. Around 60 to 70 fps at 1080p early on, though a sprawling late-game base can pull this down into the 30s to 40s regardless of settings.
Realistically, no. The RX 580 is beneath Schedule I's minimum, which means very low settings and a rough frame rate at best. About 55 to 65 fps at 1080p, close to the GTX 1060 and comfortably above the official minimum for most of a playthrough.
Plenty of power here. The RTX 4060 is above Schedule I's recommended tier, so high 1080p is smooth and 1440p is a fair target. About 110 to 130 fps at 1080p. More GPU than this game typically needs, since the real ceiling later is your CPU.
You are well set. The RTX 3060 exceeds Schedule I's recommended card, so 1080p high is easy and 1440p is realistic. Roughly 95 to 110 fps at 1080p and 70 to 85 fps at 1440p, both at high settings. This is the official recommended card.
Yes. Schedule I runs on the RTX 2060 at 1080p low to medium; shave a setting or two and the frame rate settles.
The GTX 1660 gets you in. It meets Schedule I's minimum, so low to medium at 1080p works, and turning a couple of things down keeps it steady.
Fine for a lighter setup. The GTX 1660 Super clears Schedule I's minimum, so target 1080p low to medium and adjust down for a steady rate.
Yes. Schedule I runs on the RX 6600 at 1080p low to medium; shave a setting or two and the frame rate settles.
It will run. The GTX 1660 Ti meets Schedule I's minimum, which means 1080p on low to medium and a smoother result once you lower a couple of options.
Yes. The RTX 3060 Ti has headroom over Schedule I's recommended card, so you can push 1080p high and move to 1440p when you want.
Yes, at the lower end. With the RTX 4050 you clear Schedule I's minimum, so 1080p low to medium is the target and easing back a setting helps.
Not recommended. Running Schedule I on the GTX 1050 Ti means very low settings and low frame rates, and it may refuse to launch. Below the official minimum. Expect to lower settings to 1080p low or run at 720p for a stable frame rate, and even then a large save will strain it.
The RTX 4070 is a strong fit for Schedule I. It lands at or above the recommended spec, so high 1080p is comfortable and 1440p works. Over 130 fps at 1080p on a small save, though a huge late-game operation can still bottleneck it through CPU load.
Schedule I skipped macOS entirely, so no MacBook, M-series included, can launch it directly. On a Mac you're left with a cloud service like Shadow PC, which streams a full Windows machine to you, or an unofficial layer such as CrossOver.
It depends on the chip. A recent one like Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon 780M can usually load the game and run a small save at low settings, but they sit below the GTX 1060 minimum, so expect a rough frame rate once your operation grows. Older integrated graphics will struggle from the start.
Not natively, since Chromebooks lack the hardware and OS support this game needs. Cloud streaming through a service like Shadow PC is the only realistic way to play it on one.
There is no native Linux build, but it runs through Proton on Steam Deck and Linux desktops, since it is a fairly light Unity game. Most players report it working with default Proton settings, though as with any Proton title, occasional quirks are possible.
Yes, it is rated Playable rather than Verified. It runs through Proton, and players generally report a stable experience at default settings, though on-screen text can be small and a few menus are better with the touchscreen than the controller. The developer has said official Steam Deck support is planned.
Yes, and typically more comfortably than a Steam Deck, since both run Windows natively and skip the Proton translation layer. Their stronger CPUs also help with this game's CPU-bound late game, though a very large save can still slow any handheld down.
Yes, an RTX 4060 or better handles 4K at high settings on a small to mid-sized save without trouble, since the game is not GPU-heavy. A large late-game operation can still introduce stutter at any resolution, because that bottleneck is your CPU, not your GPU or resolution.
Yes, an RTX 3060 or similar holds well above 60 fps at 1440p on high settings for most of a playthrough. As with 4K, a sprawling late-game save is the main thing that can still slow it down.
Almost any card at or above the GTX 1060 6GB minimum holds 60 fps at 1080p through the early and mid game. Keeping 60 fps in a large late-game operation depends far more on a fast CPU and good base layout than on your graphics card.
Yes, the recommended tier of an RTX 3060 or RX 6700 runs ultra settings smoothly at 1080p or 1440p for most saves. Ultra shadow quality and volumetric lighting are the two settings most likely to cost you frames if you later notice stutter.
Yes, 16GB is the official recommended amount and covers a large save comfortably alongside a browser or Discord running in the background.
Not really, on its own. The game does not officially ask for more than 16GB, and its performance limits come from CPU processing, not from running out of memory. 32GB mainly helps if you are also running heavy background software while you play.
The usual causes are a graphics card below the GTX 1060 6GB minimum, outdated graphics drivers, or a large save with many idle employees and cluttered properties overloading your CPU. Update your drivers first, then check your save for idle staff, tight workstation spacing, and built-up trash before assuming it is a hardware problem.
No. Schedule I is PC only through Steam, with no console release announced. This page covers the PC version.
No. There is no PlayStation version. It is available only on PC through Steam.
No, there is no Switch version. It is a PC-only Steam release, and Switch hardware would struggle with its CPU-heavy late game regardless.
Within limits. At the minimum of a GTX 1060 6GB, an 8GB system, and a 3GHz quad-core CPU, you can play a small to mid-sized save at 1080p low to medium settings reasonably well. A large late-game operation will strain a low-end CPU no matter how you tune the graphics.
Not through GeForce Now currently, since the developer has not opted the game into that service. Shadow PC is a paid alternative that streams a full Windows machine, including Schedule I, to weaker PCs, Macs, or even tablets.
Yes early on, though co-op adds network and simulation overhead on top of whatever the host's save already needs. A modest PC handles a small co-op session fine, but the same late-game slowdown from a large, busy base applies, and it can hit the host hardest since they run the simulation.