Bully 2shares at least one thing in common withGrand Theft Auto 6, and that’s the fact rumors about either of them come at a dime-a-dozen. The latest indicatedBully 2was supposed to be at The Game Awards 2021and it came from a mostly reliable source, but nothing ever came out of it. However, now new details on a canceled Bully 2 have come to light.
A new report from Game Informer, where the publication spoke to five former Rockstar New England devs and one from the NYC HQ (most requesting anonymity), details the history of Rockstar New England, the game it was developing, and how crunch dominated Rockstar Games back in the late 2000s. It should be noted thatcrunch at Rockstar all the way up toRed Dead Redemption 2is no secret, but the company is allegedly taking steps to remove such practices.
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Rockstar acquired Mad Doc Software in 2008 and would rename it Rockstar New England. It was apparently standard practice for each studio to prove that it was worth its investment by working on a big, aim-for-the-stars title for Rockstar, which was transitioning from a multitude of releases among variousIPs likeMidnight Clubto more spread out and bigger releases, likeGrand Theft Auto 5andRed Dead. For Rockstar New England, that title wasBully 2.
It was supposed to be bigger and better than the original in every way, with three of the aforementioned devs saying it would have been three times the size of the originalBully,but smaller thanGTA 4. It was a plan to allow players to break into houses inBully 2as part of the deep systems Rockstar New England had planned. This resulted in an in-depth glass busting mechanic, which would find its way toMax Payne 3.Rockstar New England also wanted NPCs to react toBully 2’s Jimmy Hopkins, something compared toRed Dead Redemption 1’s honor system. There was even a realistic grass growing system and a detailed climbing mechanic.
There was an estimated 6 to 8 hours ofBully 2playable at one point, complete with missions involving go-karts, a beekeeper, a Kamp Krusty from theSimpsons-style mission, and more. There wereGooniesandPorky’sreferences, NPCs walking around doing tasks, and much more. Of course, none of this ever made it to light.
Per this report, it seems the primary reason was developers who ended up leaving or being removed from this project. Once removed fromBully 2, Game Informer’s sources stated, there was no going back. This meant some devs were moved from the crunch onBully 2to the crunch onMax Payne 3orRed Dead 1. Some ended up just leaving as a result of the crunch. And then layoffs hit Rockstar New England. No one seems to indicate any knowledge of if this version anddevelopment ofBully 2was ever picked back up, or if a new one was, but one source said: “I think that it would be a missed opportunity for them to let it go forever.”
Bully 2is not known to be in development.
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