While all eyes are focused on Grand Theft Auto 6, its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto 5, is giving the internet a brief pause, a calm before the storm if you will, as leaked program database files recently shed light on some scrapped plans.
As spotted by @billsyliamgta on Twitter, the file contains valuable and confidential information that, when run through a debugger, yields references to Grand Theft Auto 4, Midnight Club Los Angeles, Red Dead Redemption 2, and, perhaps more important of all, Bully 2.
The source further notes that the files referenced scrapped content that later made it into the game or were cancelled altogether due to one reason or another.
GTAV’s PDB leak contains a string relating to Bully 2.
Credits to @GlowDevs and @WildBrick142 pic.twitter.com/4vDiyTozjn
— Liam (@billsyliamgta) November 19, 2023
Bully was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2006, outdoing sales expectations. It was the debut project of, at the time, a relatively new acquisition by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Vancouver (formerly Barking Dog Studios). Not long after it came out, Rockstar repackaged it for the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 with the help of Mad Doc Studios. Following the acquisition, Rockstar renamed the studio to Rockstar New England, which promptly received the greenlight from Rockstar to work on Bully 2.
Unfortunately, along the way, Rockstar encountered an enviable problem – an embarrassment of riches. While Bully 2 is one of the most sought-after sequels ever, it’s but one of the many properties that Rockstar owns that fans have asked the company to revive. And, unlike the first two Max Payne games, which Remedy Entertainment is remaking with the help from Rockstar Games – it’s next on the docket after the release of Alan Wake 2 – Rockstar can’t exactly outsource such a treasured venture to “other” studios. Rockstar New England is still very much active and Rockstar Vancouver is no more.
To make matters worse, after the disaster that was the GTA Remaster Trilogy by Grove Street Games, Rockstar has more than enough reason to show reluctance when it comes to outsourcing its projects.
At the end of the day, this newly unearthed information confirms something that we’ve known all along – Rockstar was always looking into Bully 2, but the timing just wasn’t right. Given the most recent sighting about Rockstar considering at least two more Bully games, it’s clear Rockstar saw potential in the sequel. However, Rockstar couldn’t exactly afford to divert resources away from its other “more profitable” projects, namely, GTA 4 and Red Dead Redemption 2 either.
Sadly, since Rockstar is all-in on the next GTA, don’t expect Bully 2 to come out anytime soon. But, maybe, who knows? There’s a chance Rockstar will revisit the idea in between the release of GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 3.
If we’re being honest though, there’s no way Rockstar can work on Bully 2 (let alone 3) without taking away from other games that will make a boatload more revenue with fewer headaches.
Thus, fans might want to file their hopes and dreams of seeing Bully 2 hit the storeshelves to the far-end of the filing cabinet, right alongside Beyond Good and Evil 2.
