Bully didn’t support online multiplayer when it launched in 2006, but that didn’t stop a team of dedicated fans and modders from seeking to turn the game into a full-featured online experience. And now, they are close to releasing Bully Online, a free mod that essentially turns the school-themed open-world game into something like Grand Theft Auto Online.
On October 28, Rockstar Games superfan, YouTuber, and modder SWEGTA announced Bully Online and showed off the upcoming free mod via a trailer on his YouTube channel. The mod will include a large roster of playable characters, new drivable vehicles, mini-games, player housing, roleplay support, online racing, and more. Bully Online is built using DSL script loader, a plugin for Bully that allows SWEGTA and his team to extensively mod the original game. Using this plugin, the YouTuber says a lot of “things we thought were impossible just a few years ago can now be done,” including adding full online multiplayer support.
As explained in the video above, SWEGTA and his team are adding a lot to Bully Online, including the ability to buy cars and even lock them using car keys via a newly added inventory system. The upcoming mod even features a first-person shooter mini-game starring oversized rats, which is presented in-game as a video game you can play against other Bully Online players. Don’t worry, Bully Online isn’t adding guns to Rockstar’s boarding school game. That’s something SWEGTA and the team didn’t want to do. Instead, this FPS mini-game will provide players with some shooting action without handing assault rifles to the students at Bullworth Academy.
Some fans are worried that Rockstar Games might show up and shut all of this down because SWEGTA is a high-profile creator and is making a big announcement out of Bully Online’s reveal. And that’s possible. But I think Bully Online might be safe simply because it’s not directly competing with GTA Online or Red Dead Online.
According to SWEGTA, Bully Online has been in development for a “very long time,” but he and the team didn’t want to reveal it until it was far enough along that they all felt confident in showing it off to the public. That time is now, with SWEGTA confirming that Bully Online will be available to Bully Online paid Ko-Fi subscribers starting in December. The plan is to eventually roll out a fully public server available to anyone who owns Bully on PC and installs the mod. It’s not quite Bully 2, but it’s better than nothing.
