SWEGTA has finally explained why Bully Online was shut down and is never coming back.
The mod recreated Bully’s cancelled multiplayer modes, and included beta assets that didn’t make it to the final game. A month after launching, it abruptly shut down.
In a new video, SWEGTA cheekily stated that fans can ‘take two’ guesses on who shut the mod down. It’s possible that the letter didn’t come from Rockstar or Take-Two directly, but a legal representative.
He debunked speculation that it was DMCA’d because they took donations, or that they announced it before releasing it.
SWEGTA did directly state that the DMCA letter they received revealed to him that Bully Online could not possibly meet Take-Two’s guidelines on game mods. For that reason, it would never be approved, and that’s why they shut it down.
It is worth noting that Rockstar just launched an official marketplace for FiveM and RedM mods. We know Take-Two allows mods for their games, even paid mods. They bought FiveM itself to legitimize GTA RP.
SWEGTA concludes by saying that the dev team will now make original work unconnected to Rockstar, and reminds us Bully Online’s code is out in the wild.