Dan Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder and the writer behind the studio’s biggest games, including the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series, has said Bully 2 didn’t happen because of “bandwidth issues.”
Bully was a humorous action game that put players in the role of high school outcast Jimmy while attending a pretentious private school. “Bully is a great, well-crafted action game that’s been made even stronger with one of the best senses of humor around,” IGN’s Bully review read. Expect dozens and dozens of hours of fun.”
Fans have long-called for a sequel, which was once in development at Rockstar’s New England studio in the late 2000s. While Bully 2 was obviously never released, some of its ideas made it into other Rockstar games like Red Dead Redemption 2.
In an exclusive interview with IGN on Saturday, September 27 at LA Comic Con, we asked Houser why we never got a sequel to 2006 fan-favorite Bully (also known as Canis Canem Edit). You can watch the full interview below:
“I think it was just bandwidth issues,” Houser said. “You know, 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.
“And you know, we certainly — how we’re structured at [Houser’s current company] Absurd [Ventures], we’re doing two projects with a fairly small team, and it’s really trying to think through that. How can we do that and keep them both moving?”
Dataminers have unearthed bits and bobs about Bully 2 over the years. In 2023, an alleged leak of a database file for Grand Theft Auto 5 was found to include reference to the unreleased Bully 2.
Houser established transmedia company Absurd Ventures after leaving Rockstar Games in 2020. His new crime fiction comic series, American Caper, will be released on November 12, 2025, with the first arc comprising 12 issues.
This time last year, a group of around 20 developers formerly of Ascendant Studios — including its former CEO — joined Houser’s Absurd Ventures to form a new studio in San Rafael, California: Absurd Marin. However, we don’t, as yet, have any further details on the games currently in development.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
