Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit, was a tentpole release for gamers of a certain generation. While the long-awaited sequel for the school-yard GTA game will likely never happen, fans are still frequently enjoying the original game to this day.
While we may have had a great time playing through Bully, a large number of developers that worked on the time didn’t have a great time making it. Speaking in the latest issue of Retro Gamer Magazine, environment artist Andrew Wood called its development a “fun, weird, hellish, chaotic, awesome time”.
“I reflect back fondly on the people and the times and the crazy things we did after hours, but then I think about the stress,” they told the magazine, via GamesRadar.
Wood revealed that the crunch time of the Bully project was almost constant with devs working 120-hour weeks to get the project done. At that time, Rockstar Games was pumping out titles constantly with Bully being just one title on what seemed like a conveyor belt of game launches at the time.
“There were constant internal conflicts due to the stress of always being at work. A couple of people had mental breakdowns. They snapped,” Wood explained. “It was difficult to work in that kind of environment, but I knew that Bully was going to be worth it in the end, so I stuck it out.”
As the game’s release date approached, Wood explained that developers were working “18-hour days” for “seven days a week” with a number of workers leaving during that period simply due to the stress. Additionally, Rockstar made employees eat in the office to make sure every free moment could be used to make the game.
“When we were pushing to release the game, we were revoked our lunch and our dinner breaks,” Wood continued. “They actually catered food into the office because they didn’t want us leaving! It started to feel like a prison for a lot of people.”
It’s been 20 years since then, and Rockstar Games is a very different company, although extensive crunch has still plagued the studio for titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6.
While developing Bully may have been a hellish experience for many involved, Wood still enjoys the game, and hopes a new remaster is on the way.
“I love the game, and I love the fact that almost 20 years later, people are still cherishing it,” he finishes,”they said. “For anyone from Rockstar who might be reading this: people would definitely cherish a 20th anniversary remaster, too”
