Dear Passengers Hits 1M Wishlists in Two Days Amid Controversy
The game's rapid wishlist milestone highlights how quickly a controversial concept can gain traction on Steam, while also raising questions about originality and the influence of Roblox trends on the platform.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
FLEXUS announced that the co-op game Dear Passengers, about crew on the world's worst airline, reached 1 million Steam wishlists within two days of its reveal. The game has drawn criticism for a character named Epst.J, seen as a reference to Jeffrey Epstein, and for similarities to a Roblox game. The original Roblox developer said it is okay. The game is planned for a 2026 release on Steam.
The co-op game Dear Passengers, in which players work as crew on a deliberately terrible airline, reached 1 million Steam wishlists within two days of its announcement, developer FLEXUS reported on July 17.
The milestone came alongside two controversies. A character named Epst.J appears in the trailer, widely read as a reference to Jeffrey Epstein, and a figure resembling Donald Trump is shown being removed from the aircraft. The game has also been accused of copying the Roblox title Land or Die! The developer of that game, Plenty of Planets, acknowledged the similarity but said they are okay with it.
Polden Publishing CEO Kirill Oreshkin, who is not directly involved, noted that his company had encountered multiple teams pitching similar concepts based on Roblox games in recent weeks. He suggested that Steam may see a wave of games derived from Roblox hits.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.