Surprise GTA leak resurrects hopes of Bully 2
It seems that school's out for summer, as Rockstar Games' Bully 2 gets another blow. While it's become widely accepted that the famed developer behind Grand Theft Auto was once working on a sequel to its 2006 classic, the existence of Bully 2 has never been formally acknowledged by Rockstar.
Following the disappointment of the GTA Trilogy, most have given up hope on Bully 2, although that doesn't stop rumours from continuously doing the rounds. Now, a bizarre discovery in the back of GTA V has hinted at the game... again.
GTA V hints at Bully 2
As shared by Twitter user @billsyliamgta, some unearthed code from the GTA V project database references Bully 2. There are also mentions of Grand Theft Auto 4, Midnight Club Los Angeles, and Red Dead Redemption 2, although Bully 2 is the big one.
The code quickly went viral players championing the idea of Bully 2. Before you get too excited, Rockstar Universe has some musings on what it means. The site explained, "Very interesting, but take this as a grain of salt, it does not mean Bully 2 is in the works."
"There were previous rumours that the title was cancelled, and given most projects have a 'codename' prior to announcement, it's unlikely to be a new Bully game. Something similar was found in Max Payne 3's files previously too. Still, it's an interesting find."
Still, it was enough to get some of you pumped. One wrote, "I really hope they didn't completely cancel it and it's just on the back burner," while another added, "Strauss did say in interviews that they have a lot coming down the pipeline for 2024 and 2025." Sadly, most of us have given up on Bully 2.
We still don't know what happened to Bully 2
It's interesting that the PDB references Trevor with a jetpack, suggesting that a planned GTA V single-player DLC was reworked into GTA Online's Doomsday Heist. There's also a mention of CNC, which appears to be GTA Online's Cops 'n' Crooks mode that never saw the light of day.
As for Bully 2, its canning remains a mystery. Composer Shawn Lee first spoke about Bully 2 way back in 2009, while Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser shared his love for the IP in 2012 and suggested it could come back. Concept art leaked in 2017 but Bully 2 failed to materialise.
Insider Tom Henderson claims Bully 2 was pulled from the 2021 Game Awards, while things have gone quiet since. It looks like Bully 2 and Bully 3 were once planned, but ultimately, the trilogy will likely never see the light of day. Even if Bully 2 were to rise from the grave, Rockstar is a little busy with GTA 6 right now.
