Former GTA boss and Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser's "own childhood" shaped "a lot" of Rockstar's cult classic open-world game Bully, former dev says, but it also "touched on all our childhood memories"

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We all knew a Jimmy Hopkins or two

Bully
(Image credit: Rockstar)

A former Rockstar developer who worked on the cult classic open-world boarding school sim Bully says that much of the game's story was based on Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser's own life experiences.

Bully is the very definition of a cult classic game. It was released in 2006, riding on the success of the Grand Theft Auto open-world formula, but condensing it down to a boarding school in the fictional town of Bullworth and starring ill-behaved student Jimmy Hopkins. It reviewed well despite some controversy over its openly violent themes, but didn't come anywhere near GTA's success, maintaining a cult following to this day.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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