Bully 2 is something that pops up around about this time of year, every year. This one’s kind of interesting, though.
Bully 2 is suddenly back in the spotlight today after a pretty weird series of events.
It all started when a listing for something called Bully 2: Kevin’s Back Jack was found on the GameInformer website by redditor methAndgatorade – shortly before it was made private or pulled.
This doesn’t seem to be a fake: a bunch of redditors took screenshots and dug up a Google cache of the page in question. The cache shows the page was up from May 8 2017, and was only removed earlier today.
Normally we’d wince a little and send sympathy to whoever accidentally broke what’s likely to be an expensive NDA (while at the same time openly envying a terrific exclusive), but 01) that title is weird, and 02) GI has said flat out it doesn’t know anything at all about Bully 2.
You might be seeing reports we have reported Bully 2 exists. This is in error. We have not heard anything about a sequel to Bully.
— Game Informer (@gameinformer) June 8, 2017
Replying to a further query on Twitter, GI boss Andrew Reiner said the team is currently looking into how the page turned up on the website. I can think of a couple of possibilities: a former staffer with CMS access gone rogue or an external intrusion, for example. Without knowing how GI’s database of titles is generated and collated, I don’t want to speculate on other potential explanations related to the enforced divide between the editorial and business sides of games media.
Anyway, whatever’s happened over there it looks like reports of Bully 2’s existence have been greatly exaggerated, as they generally are in June each year. Maybe Sony will surprise us all with an announce, but it’s worth noting that Rockstar doesn’t generally bother with E3 and already has Red Dead Redemption 2 on the boil.
The original Bully, retitled Canis Canem Edit in some markets, released in 2006 for PS2 before being ported to other systems. It took the open world formula of GTA and moved it into a school setting, toning down the violence and adult themes – mostly. It wasn’t actually about being a bully, despite the media controversies of the time.
Fans have long called for a sequel to Bully, and it’s a favourite chestnut for rumour-mongers.
Source: vg247