Bully 2 has been rumored and canceled many times, and since this trend started, Rockstar Games has begun a downward spiral. They still have very successful games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, but the company's reputation has taken multiple hits. While its slide in popularity is not yet terminal, Rockstar should be concerned regarding how it could affect its performance in the future.
In of gameplay, most of Rockstar's big releases have been perfectly fine. However, in most cases, it is Rockstar's actions rather than the games themselves that have been the source of scrutiny from players. People like it when they feel they can trust a developer, and many fans feel that their trust in Rockstar has eroded in recent years. Events such as Take-Two's CEO dismissing GTA Trilogy's glitches, and a lack of communication over games like Red Dead Online, have not put the company in fans' good graces.
There are many things that could potentially be blamed for this, and perhaps the cancellation of Bully 2 itself was not the jumping-off point. However, it does display symptoms of a lot of the problems that Rockstar has been facing, making it a perfect reference point to discuss the company's recent ills. To retain its status as a prestigious video game developer, Rockstar will need to take a serious look at its direction in the coming years, and how Bully 2's ill-fated development may have affected the company negatively.
Bully 2's Development Suffered From Corporate Influence
An article by Blake Hester of Bully 2 that GTA still hasn't attempted, such as relationship values with various NPCs and enabling the player to enter every building in the game. However, increasing workloads and a negative culture change influenced by Rockstar corporate ostensibly drained a lot of employees' enjoyment of the job. With developers being pulled to work on other projects, Bully 2 eventually faded away, never released or even officially announced.
Crunch is well-known as a major problem in the video game industry, and some companies have been open about trying to find ways to cut down on it. Even Rockstar itself itted in 2020 that it was aware of the problem and would search for a solution. A former Rockstar developer confirmed the seemingly endless crunch that was Red Dead Redemption's development last year. Even when Red Dead Redemption won game of the year, they didn't feel satisfied due to how much they disliked the experience of working on it.
Of course, the video game industry is a business, and work needs to be done, but the personal lives and well-being of the workers are also extremely important. It is clear from the Game Informer article that the Rockstar New England employees were less satisfied with their work as more influence came in from corporate, making them feel less secure about their performance and their jobs. This type of issue needs to be resolved quickly, because an unhappy and overstressed workforce is not the way for a company to run, especially one focused on entertaining its customers.
Rockstar Has Overpromised And Underdelivered
As mentioned previously, the team at Rockstar New England believed that they had an amazing opportunity with Bully, only for those plans to evaporate, although some elements from Bully 2 made it into RDR 2. Likewise, fans of various Rockstar properties have seen their hopes raised by announcements that ultimately let them down. The persistent rumors of Bully 2 are an example of this disappointment, but several official releases have disappointed them all the same.
One such example of Rockstar's fans being upset by an underdelivered response is the launch of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Many GTA fans were overjoyed at the idea of playing three classic GTA titles on next-gen consoles, only for their enthusiasm to be rewarded with buggy ports that ran less efficiently than the near-two-decade-old games they were based on. Reports of glitches and other problems piled up from displeased fans, and Rockstar and Take-Two suffered a large drop in consumer confidence as players demanded refunds for the buggy GTA Trilogy games. Even with the bugs being fixed over the course of multiple patches, GTA Trilogy's launch remains a rather sore spot for many.
Red Dead Online has been the center of several instances where Rockstar's promises did not deliver what fans were hoping to see. Many of its recent announced events were met with a mix of apathy and frustration as several players bemoaned how little unique content came from them, instead mostly just applying money bonuses and extra quest rewards. There are plenty of new additions that fans are requesting or hoping for, and many are starting to lose faith in a game that seems to consistently fail to deliver in a substantial fashion.
Rockstar Has Spent Too Much Focus On GTA Online
In the eyes of many fans, the vast majority of Rockstar's attention has been focused on Grand Theft Auto Online. Despite GTA Online's own issues with Shark Cards, it is a long-running and successful game with a very consistent player base. However, as GTA Online continues to be showered with and frequent updates, the state of Rockstar's other properties is quite stark in comparison. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of how Rockstar New England's staff had to take time away from Bully 2 to work on larger titles.
Red Dead Online serves as an example for this category as well. There are two widely played online games based on Rockstar's two biggest franchises, Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead. However, GTA Online seems to be heavily favored with the vast amount of content that has been added since release, and the RDO player base is not pleased by this. In fact, the #SaveRedDeadOnline protest that crashed Rockstar's GTA update post was born from disgruntled RDO players demanding better content for the game.
Outside of GTA Online, Rockstar has generated very few positive headlines recently. With GTA Trilogy releasing in a very poor state and Red Dead Online's player base overcome with resentment, the company has had several controversies to deal with. Another rumor of Bully 2's development came and went, and Max Payne is completely dormant as a franchise, so its opportunities to earn positive were few. Rockstar did have success with the well-received The Contract update for GTA Online. The update featured a brand new storyline where players learned what happened to GTA 5's Franklin and Lamar after that game's events. Although that content update received positive responses from fans, the rest of the year proved tumultuous.
Rockstar needs to do work to repair its damaged reputation in the near future. The events around the cancellation of Bully 2 are a symptom of a larger problem with the company. With the industry's treatment of workers under scrutiny, it would be wise for Rockstar to reevaluate its practices and repair its name in the eyes of fans.
Source: Game Informer
