Bully 2 supposedly cancelled... again.

[Moik]

And the reason was to focus on GTA6.
https://screenrant.com/grand-theft-auto-6-reason-bully-2-cancelled/

"Two former Rockstar Games insiders have claimed the studio axed Bully 2 a third time in 2017, all in an effort to focus on the development of Grand Theft Auto VI and Red Dead Redemption 2. "​

Now that these systems can store data and pluck it out, without so much redundancy to speed up load-times, perhaps they can add Bullworth Academy to the GTA6 over-world, so they could share a good chunk of assets, set-pieces, characters / models, etc.. And stage crossovers between them. So, a story-line character in GTA6 has a son in Bullworth, and you meet this character in Bully 2.
Maybe his father is a career criminal, and he recruits his son and your character for some sort of heist, that you see take place in GTA6.. Or you interact with the Bullworth Academy secretary or principle, janitor, etc..

They'd just flesh out the city from different perspectives.

 

[PSman1700]

A good reason for Rockstar i suppose. A new GTA is going to be much more popular then a new Bully. Its been awhile since the last GTA, V was a PS3 gen game.

 

[digitalwanderer]

And the reason was to focus on GTA6.

Gotta admit, that's a seriously strong reason.

 

[Moik]

Indeed. Anything announced from Rockstar that's not GTAVI, would get a bit of backlash for not being GTAVI. (I kinda forgot GTAV was a PS3 game..)

I liked Bully. Twas a refreshing change of pace.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think I read something earlier at the year hinting at a project cancellation at Rockstar. I quite liked Bully but never finished it and it's one of the few PS2 discs I never sold or traded-in. It clearly was just GTA in a different setting but that's been Rockstar's schtick for a few years now; RDR is GTA Wild West. I'm surprised they haven't taken GTA sci-fi yet.

 

[Moik]

Yeah. They could draw inspiration (and parody) from various movies. (The Fitfth Element, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Total Recall, etc..)
One thing I thought would be interesting, (and good for media buzz) is, assume Mars has been terraformed. (or at least has domed cities)
Since we have relatively accurate topography data about the surface of Mars, one could etch out an over-world map, establish a water table, flesh it out, and then build over it as naturally as possible. Just pick a region that would look the most interesting to set a city. Olympus Mons is 16 miles high, for example.
The novelty would grab some media attention, me thinx. With the "this is what it would legitimately look like, if we terraformed and developed this region."

 

[fehu]

Slow and steady

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Indeed. Anything announced from Rockstar that's not GTAVI, would get a bit of backlash for not being GTAVI. (I kinda forgot GTAV was a PS3 game..)

Agree. GTA is too big today than it was at the time of Manhunt or Bully.

 

[Karamazov]

never played bully, but what was so great about that game ?

 

[Moik]

Like DSoup mentioned, it's pretty much just taking the GTA formula, and applying it to a boarding school setting.
Swap out the guns for slingshots and firecrackers, cars / motorcycles for bikes and skateboards, etc..
It opens up at some point, and you can leave the school campus and wander other parts of the city, a carnival and whatnot.. Twas designed for PS2, so even though it was ported to things like Xbox360, it was clearly still PS2 era. (pretty expansive for its time)
It had an original music score, rather than popular music found in GTA.

 

[Moik]

Your character's also not technically a "bully". (although you do have the option to behave like one) He's more or less a character who doesn't allow himself to be the victim of bullying, and readily fights back.. And, as a result, was sent to a "last chance" boarding school, full of other students deemed to have various issues.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Your character's also not technically a "bully". (although you do have the option to behave like one) He's more or less a character who doesn't allow himself to be the victim of bullying, and readily fights back.. And, as a result, was sent to a "last chance" boarding school, full of other students deemed to have various issues.

In the UK and some other PAL regions the game was sold under the name Canis Canem Edit (rough latin translation: dog eat dog). I vaguely recall Rockstar maintaining that the non-PAL area title of 'Bully' was a reference to the school: the Bullworth Academy.

 

[Moik]

Yeah, I figure naming it "Bully" was part of their marketing strategy.. They figured the usual suspects (in the US at least) would jump to the conclusion that it was a bully simulator, (from the makers of GTA, oh no!) and stir up controversy in the media.
Then, they could squelch the criticism with the full premise and explain the name, etc. with plenty of press coverage for their game..
Probably usually a good strategy.