Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming out soon. Although Rockstar Games had to delay its release a few times, the game is going to cause massive waves across the gaming industry. But as excited as everyone is for when GTA 6 finally arrives on consoles and PC, there's something that everyone will eventually have to think about. What happens next after GTA 6 is finally out? The next game that Rockstar begins to develop is going to be a big deal, and just as a follow-up to the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.
Out of all the great game releases from Rockstar Games, I want to see them dive into a sequel to the beloved classic, Bully. While it's not as grand or ridiculous as what we see in Grand Theft Auto, Bully was a game that had a lot of charm to it that everyone really enjoyed. The shenanigans you get into, and the goofy humor that comes with it, still has that signature Rockstar touch, despite taking place in something trivial like a school. And with a lot of great material to pull from modern-day news and trends, a new Bully game could be exactly what everyone needs from them. Here's why, after GTA 6 launches, this is the game I want to see Rockstar make next.
OpenCritic Reviews
- Released
- November 19, 2026
- ESRB
- Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
- Genre(s)
- Action, Adventure
Going back to school
What made Bully so interesting
Credit: Rockstar Games
Credit: Rockstar Games
Credit: Rockstar Games
Credit: Rockstar Games
Credit: Rockstar Games
It's been a long time since the original release of Bully on home consoles in 2006. While the game had a remastered version called Bully: Scholarship Edition that came out a year later, most people remember the controversy and discourse about Bully when it first came out. At that point in time, Rockstar had already made a huge splash with games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Warriors, and Max Payne 2. So a game about causing trouble in a boarding school seemed like a weird change of pace for them. But with a lot of discussions about violence and mature content in games going on back then, Bully inevitably got a lot of attention. The game ended up becoming a hit with everyone, despite how much criticism and censorship it faced by various education groups and political figures.
The main premise of Bully was the story of a tough juvenile delinquent, named Jimmy Hopkins, being sent to a boarding school and forced to go through a full year. It has a lot of similarities to how a Grand Theft Auto game begins, with the main character being someone who has a checkered past and is put into a situation that forces them to do something different. Only with Bully, the setting is a school with teens going through growing pains, which adds a fun level of irony and humor to every situation. There's a strong sense of nostalgia for anyone that plays Bully in their adult years, reminding them of the awkward and hilarious times growing up as a teen, and getting into all kinds of trouble.
The plot has Jimmy trying to find ways to stop bullying at Bullworth Academy, while also showing him doing things that would have anyone view him as a bully on the rise. It's a great set-up that only Rockstar could make sense of and present it in a humorous and fun way. And it's taken to extremes that are interesting to watch play out, even when the characters and scenarios are ridiculous in many ways that seem unbelievable.
Bully in the modern day
So much to work with
Anyone that knows anything about pop culture today will understand how much teen culture has changed since 2006. Many teens are now online so much with mobile devices and other technology, browsing social media and taking in so much content. It's fundamentally changed what we see from them, as well as how much they see from the outside world that influences their growth. This is something that Rockstar has poked fun at in different games, and continues to do so with the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 6. It's an aspect of life in the modern day that I can see a new Bully game going really go far with, and having a lot of material to pull inspiration from.
Even going back to a boarding school setting like in the original Bully, a sequel could parody how much technology and social media have influenced young minds. It's a fertile ground for a good story and great humor that never gets old. Whether it's aging teachers not understanding the youth, or the awkward phases of becoming an adult while social media is around, a new Bully game can make fun of all of it. And there's no shortage of crazy character archetypes or trends to look for a basis of what to show and talk about. Just glancing through platforms like TikTok and Facebook is enough to find plenty of ideas on how being on social media in this day and age could be difficult for teens, especially when taken to the same extremes that Rockstar Games likes to go to.
Not going with another GTA
The gap between major games
Welcome to Bullworth sign from the intro of Bully
Credit: Rockstar Games
Welcome to Bullworth sign from the intro of Bully
Given how massive Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be when it finally releases, anyone would think that it makes sense to make another GTA game afterward. But that would be a terrible idea, and not because a new Grand Theft Auto game wouldn't be successful. Any new GTA game is going to sell very well, but they only do so because we don't get them very often. Rockstar Games usually has other titles they release in-between the major entries of the GTA series, which keeps everyone busy until they finally develop and release a new game in the series. As much as I would be interested in seeing another GTA game, these types of major releases take a long time to make, and possibly longer to make them great.
This is why it makes the most sense to go back to something like Bully after Grand Theft Auto 6 is out. There's going to be a very long period of time from the release of GTA 6 to whatever its sequel will eventually be. At the same time, it's not that Rockstar had no interest in making a follow-up to Bully at all. Back in 2013, a sequel to the game was being worked on for more than a year prior, until it was officially canceled. Since the remastered version of the original, we haven't seen anything related to Bully whatsoever, and the demand for it from Rockstar Games fans has been lingering for a long time.
Bringing back Bully
Whatever Rockstar Games decides to do next is going to grab everyone's attention and become a massive hit. But I want them to go back to a game like Bully after the release of Grand Theft Auto 6. It's something that can be fun and different, despite how similar it is to other GTA games. We probably don't need to go back to Bullworth Academy again, but I, and many other fans, wouldn't mind if Rockstar decided that it wanted to do so next.
- Released
- October 17, 2006
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Crude Humor, Language, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Vancouver
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Engine
- RenderWare, Gamebryo
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer, Local Co-Op
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox
