A sequel to Rockstar’s Bully has long been rumored since the game’s initial release in 2006, but a report from VideoGamesChronicle might shed some light on what’s been going on with Bully 2.
According to VGC’s sources, Bully 2 was indeed undergoing development at Rockstar, with work starting on the game shortly after Red Dead Redemption‘s 2010 release. Despite making some significant strides in development and even getting the game to a somewhat playable state, Bully 2‘s development “fizzled out” and the full game “never got off the ground.”
The script for Bully 2 would have seen Jimmy, the same protagonist from the original Bully, return, but where the story would have taken him was still being debated. Bully 2 would have supposedly begun at Jimmy’s stepdad’s house at the beginning of summer, but where the story would have gone from there hadn’t been decided upon. One angle had Jimmy returning to school, but whether that would have been another school, college, or something else entirely remains a mystery.
According to VGC, a team at Rockstar New England spent anywhere from 12-18 months building a “very small slice” of Bully 2 using Rockstar’s RAGE engine, which was used in other Rockstar Games like Grand Theft Auto V, Max Payne 3, and Red Dead Redemption. “It existed, it was playable,” said VGC’s source, “it was just a shame it never got off the ground.” Multiple developers that worked at Rockstar New England during the time Bully 2 was being worked on have an “unannounced game” listed on their CVs.
The team at Rockstar is no doubt hard at work on a new project right now, but with Red Dead Redemption 2 finally seeing a PC release and Rockstar creating its very own PC launcher, we probably won’t see anything new from the secretive developer anytime soon. Whether it’s Bully 2, a new Grand Theft Auto, or something else entirely, we’re excited to see what Rockstar has up its sleeve. If you’re itching for more Rockstar content, check out our impressions of Red Dead Online‘s newest content update, which adds a plethora of new content and activities to the shared western world.
