Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has finally explained why a sequel to Bully never came to life, revealing that the project was dropped for this major reason.
Speaking at LA Comic Con 2025 in a discussion with IGN, Houser said the studio simply didn’t have the creative resources to take on every project it wanted.
“If you’ve got a small lead creative team and a small senior leadership crew, you just can’t do all the projects you want,” he explained. “I think it was just bandwidth issues.”
Bully launched on PlayStation 2 in 2006 and quickly became a cult favorite for its schoolyard setting and open-world sandbox design. Despite its popularity, the game never received a follow-up, though speculation has persisted for years.
Bully 2 was never made due to ‘bandwidth issues’
Former developers have previously claimed that Rockstar New England, then known as Mad Doc Studios, worked on early versions of Bully 2. According to these reports, the game was intended to be far larger than the original, with a morality system, new stealth mechanics, and a fully explorable environment.
None of these features were ever confirmed by Rockstar, and Houser did not address them in his recent comments, but leaked assets and developer testimonies have kept the rumors alive.
Houser’s remarks now make it clear that the decision not to move forward with Bully 2 was not tied to market risk or controversy, but rather the practical limits of Rockstar’s leadership structure at the time. With major franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption requiring most of the studio’s attention, Bully 2 was left behind.
For fans still hoping to see Jimmy Hopkins return, Houser’s comments don’t entirely rule out a revival, but they confirm that the sequel’s absence was a matter of resources rather than intent.
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