Why Did We Never Get Bully 2? Rockstar Co-Founder Dan Houser Explains

Rockstar Games boasts several cherished IPs in its portfolio. Grand Theft Auto is a given, and Red Dead Redemption has shown tremendous success as well — but a true fan favorite is Bully, also referred to as Canis Canem Edit.

The action-adventure centered on a boy maneuvering through life at a boarding school was a significant hit on PS2; however, it never saw a sequel. Why is that?

This question was presented to Rockstar veteran Dan Houser, the company’s co-founder, during an exclusive interview with IGN. Here’s the excerpt:

“I believe it was simply bandwidth challenges,” Houser remarks. “When you have a small lead creative team and a limited senior leadership group, you cannot pursue all the projects you aspire to.”

He continues to explain that his present venture, Absurd Ventures, is organized in a manner to manage multiple projects simultaneously. “In the way we’re structuring Absurd, we’re attempting to handle two projects with a relatively modest team, and it’s essentially about strategizing that. How can we achieve that while advancing both?”

Clearly, Rockstar operates on a massive scale today, with various studios and a multitude of employees.

Nonetheless, during the time it was developing games like Bully, it was not functioning on quite the same magnitude, so it likely had to choose its priorities when creating several titles.

Notably, his reply here closely resembles remarks he made regarding a Bully sequel over ten years ago, when he indicated that Rockstar decided to produce Max Payne 3 instead of Bully 2 due to “limited bandwidth”. At least he is consistent.

Houser’s insights likely don’t convey the entire narrative; we are certain there are numerous other factors why Bully 2 has not materialized yet, especially as time progresses and titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 turn into exorbitantly costly, multi-year projects.

Would you be interested in a sequel to Bully? Do you feel the time has passed for it to occur, or could we still witness the return of Jimmy Hopkins? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.