Bully 2 – What the Hell Happened to it?

When you think about Rockstar Games, two titles come to mind. First and foremost, Grand Theft Auto, because one of the most anticipated games of all time – Grand Theft Auto 6 – arrives next May with an unreal amount of hype. Then there’s Red Dead Redemption, or rather the sequel, which launched in 2018 and remains one of the best games ever made. So much so that many of us are left pondering when it’s getting a current-gen upgrade. We’re probably already halfway through this generation, Rockstar. Surely it won’t be coming in the next? But I digress.

It’s easy to forget that it’s worked on several different IPs through the decades, spread across its multiple studios, and one of those is Bully. Released in 2006 for the PS2 before launching on the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PC about two years later, its most notable update was a mobile release in December 2016. With regards to IPs kept on ice, it might as well be in cryo sleep alongside Midnight Club, Manhunt and L.A. Noire.

So it’s all the stranger when reports emerged back in 2018 about a potential sequel in development. One report from a Rockstar New England employee, who claimed that the project was cancelled, and a few details about the premise later, nothing emerged. Which, again, makes sense that no one would really notice because Red Dead Redemption 2 fever was at an all-time high. Those rumors never stopped, however, and as the years passed before GTA 6’s announcement, many of us were simply left pondering: Will they or won’t they?

However, it seems, at long last, that Rockstar Games co-founder and former head writer/president Dan Houser has provided some clarity. Speaking to IGN at LA Comic Con, he was asked why a sequel to Bully never happened. He answered in perhaps the most succinct and yet ambiguous way possible:

“I think there were just bandwidth issues. You know, if you’ve got a small lead creative team and a small senior leadership crew, you just can’t do all the projects you want. And, you know, with certainly how we’re structuring it, we’re trying to do two projects with a very small team, and just really trying to think through that. How can we do that and keep them both moving?”

The “bandwidth issues” and “small lead creative team” likely refer to Rockstar in 2008 when the first Bully launched, right? Instead of Rockstar North, which handled the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series (with no small amount of help from other worldwide studios), it was Rockstar Vancouver at the helm. The developer was also known for working on Max Payne 3 and then merging with Rockstar Toronto in 2012. The latter last worked on Red Dead Redemption 2, so it’s safe to assume that it’s also assisting on Grand Theft Auto 6.

Regardless, the gist of Houser’s statement indicates that Rockstar could only focus on two projects at once. Considering it began working on Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2008 and then Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2010 (though internal pitches began when the first title was still in the works), it makes sense. The sheer scope of both titles means all hands on deck, and a potential Bully 2 would fall by the wayside, or just never start development at all. Right?

This is where things get complicated. In October 2019, VGC reported that a sequel was in development for 18 months before its cancellation. Houser allegedly penned a rough script around 2008, with Jimmy staying at his stepfather’s house for the Summer. While rumours before this indicated a step-sibling as the antagonist, alleged casting calls for “college professors” indicated possibly going beyond Bullworth Academy, but it seems Rockstar was undecided on that aspect.

The team allegedly worked on a “small slice” for about 18 months from 2010 to 2013 on the RAGE Engine, but production apparently “fizzled out.” As one source said, “It existed, it was playable, it was just a shame it never got off the ground.”

You would think that’d be the end of it, but Rockstar apparently dabbled in the sequel once more. Insider Tez2 said that it was working on Bully 2 until 2017, but stopped development to finish up Red Dead Redemption 2. Pre-production for Grand Theft Auto 6 was also allegedly ongoing, and it wanted to ramp things up. As much as you would think that this was the end, it apparently wasn’t.

In December 2021, it was Tom Henderson, another fairly reliable insider, who revealed that Bully 2 was “expected as a potential surprise reveal at The Game Awards” after “some people have been shown some material alluding to a reveal soon.” While information was a “bit blurry,” he noted that “some people” reportedly saw a playable version of the title before the event, and it wasn’t the “canned version.”

“It was worth reporting on as there’s something definitely ‘going on’ to do with the series,” said Henderson. He would “still stand by” the belief that something was happening in February 2022, but aside from the original being rated in Taiwan last year for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, that hasn’t been the case. Not even the announcement of a remaster or upgrade of the original for current-gen platforms.

The obvious theory – and this is only really a theory at this point, given how updates have effectively dried up – is that this supposed version of Bully 2, which is different from what Houser may have overseen, has been started and stopped because of Grand Theft Auto 6. There have been rumors of development troubles in the past, including development allegedly being rebooted in 2020 after Houser left. Perhaps Bully 2 was still in the pre-production phase, and while Rockstar wasn’t keen on cancelling it outright, it realized that more resources would be required by the end of 2021.

Cue the project being kept on ice and no internal updates ever since, as the focus is entirely on Grand Theft Auto 6. With all the hype and expectations – analysts like DFC Intelligence expecting $3.2 billion revenue in the first year, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick calling it “one of the biggest entertainment launches in history, not just in games but for all of media” – it makes sense that everything else would fall by the wayside.

For all intents and purposes, it’s safe to assume that the Bully 2 that was worked on in the early 2010s is no more. I would like to think that maybe, just maybe, present-day Rockstar considered a possible remaster or upgrade for the original to gauge interest (hence last year’s rating). There have also been rumors lately of a current-gen upgrade for Red Dead Redemption 2, which would mark the franchise’s debut on Nintendo Switch 2, but those also never came to fruition. And once again, I can’t help but wonder if it’s because Rockstar really can’t spare the manpower as it works to release Grand Theft Auto 6.

Whether that’s the right call or not will depend on who you ask. We probably won’t know the true scale of it until after launch, or even all the problems it faced. But regardless, it is a shame that fans who enjoyed Bully and dabbling in this universe where Rockstar’s open-world prowess was on display in a uniquely endearing fashion will have to wait for who knows how long for a follow-up. Never say never, but at this point, you have to wonder if it doesn’t make more sense to outsource the sequel to a different studio.

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