Bully music composer reveals sequel

By Robert Purchese Published 11 November, 2009

Says he'll be working on it soon.

Bully composer Shawn Lee has revealed that he will be working on a sequel for Rockstar.

"Yes. It looks like I will be doing the soundtrack for Bully 2 in the not so distant future," Lee told The Gaming Liberty (via Kotaku). It's the first we've heard of the game.

Bully was released in the UK in October 2006, but was called Canis Canem Edit after pressure from anti-bullying groups. Appearances, however, were deceptive - Bully had less to do with thumping nerds than it did sticking up for them.

The GTA-in-an-education-setting struck a high note with critics and consumers alike, triggering a PC, Wii and Xbox 360 conversion under the name Bully: Scholarship Edition.

We've asked Rockstar for comment.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • johnboy_johsnon #1 2 years ago

    Really enjoyed Bully so a sequel would be more than welcome! One of the few games on the 360 that had great achievements (like egging the oncoming traffic).

  • jonsaan #2 2 years ago

    The new game is called 'Shag Bands. Bully 2.'

    They wanted a non controversial name this time round.
    Edited by 1 at 11/11/09 @ 11:06

  • kinky_mong #3 2 years ago

    WAHOO! \o/

    Loved Bully, can't wait for a sequel!

  • Beige_Alert #4 2 years ago

    Awesome, that game was very fun to play. The first "GTA" game I played to the end on the first go.

  • mkreku #5 2 years ago

    Loved Bully! I also loved the music in Bully so here's hoping this composer can do it again.

  • ShiroBen #6 2 years ago

    Oh, yay!

  • TruSmiles #7 2 years ago

    Also loved Bully, sequel would be awesome! It was also the first GTA-like game that I played through to 1000 completion, it was just fun and easy to get to grips with.

  • Moribundman #8 2 years ago

    Bully is fantastic, and the music was one of the best things about it. Have actually been playing through this again recently, conincidentally.

    Not sure where they can go with it though... It was very focused on the location (in the same way GTA4 was). Would they start with a whole new school? A reimagining of the first game? Jimmy Hopkins - College Years?

    A Bully sequel set on a US uni campus might be quite interesting (frats et al). Still, having studied at one, I have to say its pretty similar in atmosphere to the boarding school in Bullworth...

    Will Keith "Jack Thompson Lite" Vaz make them change the name again?

  • mkreku #9 2 years ago

    Oh, only one complaint about Bully: it was awesome on my PS2, but the PC version was crap (seemingly ported straight from consoles, with a very weird control scheme and bad performance). Please make a real PC version for Bully 2, thanks.

  • Rodriguez #10 2 years ago

    Bloody brilliant news!!! Loved the first game so much that I bought it a second time for my 360 after having owned the PS2 original! So glad Rockstar see some mileage in this series!! Day one buy most definitely!

    -edit- Probably should add that the music by Shawn Lee in the original game was utterly brilliant too, really captured the mischievous feel of being a rebel school boy, and the various signature music for each of the various cliques added to their individuality!
    Edited by 1 at 11/11/09 @ 12:04

  • insincere_dave #11 2 years ago

    We love a bit of Bully etc.

  • greenllama88 #12 2 years ago

    some of the best gaming news in ages... loved the first one and how it took all that was good about GTA games yet didn't take its self at all seriously... and agree the music was great.

  • gorf #13 2 years ago

    Absolutly loved this game good to hear a sequel on the way. Hope the cooking lady with her 'special humour' makes an appearance in the sequel.

  • rogueJT #14 2 years ago


    "Awesome, that game was very fun to play. The first "GTA" game I played to the end on the first go."


    Really? First go?
    Edited by 1 at 11/11/09 @ 12:46

  • Beige_Alert #15 2 years ago

    @rougeJT Poorly worded, what I meant was that I usually lose interest in GTA games without reaching the end, but start anew some other time and finish them. Bully I played through to the end, it kept my attention that good.

  • aaronali #16 2 years ago

    good, good. i hoped this gem wouldn't be forgotten.

  • twinbee #17 2 years ago

    Wonderful news. I thought Rockstar had forgotten about Bully.

  • malexous #18 2 years ago

    My brother bought Bully on 360 for €12 (new) and has completed it 100%

    I, on the other hand, bought it on Wii for €6.49 (new) but have only 49% complete. I'm playing it on and off.

    I'll be sure to play the sequel.
    Edited by 1 at 11/11/09 @ 16:43

  • RobotRocker #19 2 years ago

    Bully had some wonderful music so its great to hear Shawn Lee is back on duty.

    It was also a brilliant bit of subversion on Rockstars behalf by using the name to garner controversy yet the game actually does not revolve around the player bullying (Its actually the other students) and any attempts at bullying land you with extremely boring and repetitive mini-games that you have to complete to progress.

    Keith "Jack Thompson Lite" Vaz

    Pffft. Rockstar just need to wave the spectre of the numerous scandals Mr.Vaz has been implicated in to the press and he will go away. Why do you think the cabinet treated him as a joke during the Modern Warfare 2 debate?

  • Oh-Bollox #20 2 years ago

    Bully 2: Bullied

  • AOFanboi #21 2 years ago

    Surprised it has taken this long, the first game was well received and also benefited from "pulling conclusions from my ass" pre-release tabloid press to boot.

    Bully 2: Oxford vs. Cambridge ?