Rockstar Games has several IPs at its disposal, but one that stands out, in particular, is Bully. The cult classic title was first released back in 2006 for the PlayStation 2. Although it sold well for a new IP, especially during the 2000s when Rockstar released several GTA games in quick succession, the studio never revisited the idea once again.
Many fans have speculated over the years that Bully just didn't sell well enough for Rockstar to make a sequel, but as it turns out, one was actually in development, only for the studio to cancel and nix the entire thing by 2009.
What happened to the canceled Bully sequel?
According to a handful of anonymous ex-developers at Rockstar New England, the studio was working on Bully 2 back in 2008. Things had progressed to the point that the group had six to seven hours of playable content available. Unfortunately, Rockstar decided to move the developers to other games that had similarly troubled development issues. Eventually, Rockstar canceled the Bully sequel in 2009.
Game Informer's report is arguably the most extensive written account that contains details about Bully 2.
The main takeaway here is that Rockstar worked on Bully 2 for nearly two years before Rockstar management prioritized other "more important" projects. What's interesting here is that Rockstar dropped the development when some 70 people were working on Bully 2 at some point. This suggests that the studio wasn't afraid to devote resources to the project. Unfortunately, Rockstar's infamous crunch culture forced some of the developers to leave in protest, which might have been what forced the studio to cancel it entirely.
Another thing to note is that the developer's words appear to confirm all the concept art leaked by Bully 2 Info on Twitter.
If it's any consolation, some of the technology intended for Bully 2 made its way to other Rockstar games. For example, dynamically breaking glass, which the anonymous developers described, was used in Grand Theft Auto V. Meanwhile, NPCs that remembered character behavior were also used in Red Dead Redemption 2. Other in-depth game mechanics initially planned for Bully 2 that were later expanded on include dynamically growing grass and unimportant buildings that you could enter and loot, among others.
In other Bully news, other insiders "confirmed" that Rockstar planned to announce Bully 2 at TGA 2021. Meanwhile, there are reports that Rockstar didn't cancel work on Bully 2 until 2017.
