Vibecoders remake popular video game that was banned in UK shops

While people are still skeptical about how artificial intelligence appears to be seeping its way into the world of video games, it can sometimes be used for good to give us what developers clearly won't.

We're not saying that developers and publishers have it easy right now, but with the backlash against generative AI being clear, many feel they need to do more to turn our opinions on AI around.

Taking matters into their own hands, one vibecoder has used Anthropic's Claude to give us a modern remake of a classic video game that's been left to gather dust for too long.

Opinions are sure to be split on the project, but as Rockstar Games focuses its efforts on the upcoming release of GTA VI, vibecoders have revisited 2006's Bully and given us an Unreal Engine 5 remake.

What is the vibecoded Bully remake?

As reported by our friends at GAMINGbible, there's now a free demo for a "one-to-one" port of Bully: Scholarship Edition to Unreal Engine 5. Although using the game's original code, the fact it's been vibecoed through Claude means it could be prone to errors and glitches to AI hallucination.

For those who don't know, vibecoding uses AI-assisted software to generate, structure, and host code based on human prompts.

GAMINGbible describes the demo as being as 'bland' as you'd expect, but with us being starved of Bully content since Scholarship Edition released in 2008, we'll take what we can get.

There's also the unusual addition of AI, where you can talk into your microphone and it's translated into the game as you interact with other characters.

The project is the brainchild of a developer going by @ashen_one on X, showing off the playable build that you can get from GitHub.

A three-minute video shows the vibecoded Bully remake running in UE5.8 and hitting an impressive 45 FPS at 1080p on a Mac.

Ashen looks to improve performance as development continues, but remember that you'll need a legally obtained PC copy of Bully: Scholarship Edition if you want to try it for yourselves.

What is Bully's legacy?

For those of you who've never played Bully, the good news is that it's backward compatible on current consoles and is available on Steam as Bully: Scholarship Edition. PC players are warned that the game is notoriously unstable on Windows 10 and Windows 11, only leading to further calls for Rockstar to give us a modernized version.

In an era that everything from Resident Evil – Code: Veronica to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is getting a truly modern remake, it feels like a license to print money. Unfortunately, many are still burned by 2021's Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition being little more than a pricey remaster.

Bully is even more fascinating due to the controversy it brought to the United Kingdom, leading to retailers like Currys and PC World refusing to sell it because it didn't align with their family-friendly image.

The game sees you play as a plucky upstart called Jimmy Hopkins, who causes havoc at Bullworth Academy and the surrounding town. As Bully came in the aftermath of GTA: San Andreas' 'Hot Coffee' minigame scandal, British Labour MP Keith Vaz argued it should be banned or reclassified as an 18 before being released in the UK. That didn't happen, although there were also concerns from groups including Bullying Online and Peaceaholics that Rockstar was trivializing school bullying.

None of this mattered in the end, as Bully went on to sell over 1.5 million copies and nab multiple awards.

What happened to the Bully franchise?

Unfortunately for those who wanted to see Bully become the next GTA, the franchise was kept behind after class. Although not quite in the same realm of 'what ifs' as Rockstar's cancelled Agent as 'GTA meets James Bond', the demise of Bully 2 feels like one of the industry's great losses.

Mad Doc Software worked on Scholarship Edition and was later bought by Rockstar before being rebranded as Rockstar New England and powering ahead with Bully 2.

It's said that work on Bully 2 got as far as a playable state and was going to feature a massive map almost the same size as GTA: Vice City, but things stalled around 2013. While Rockstar has remained tight-lipped on even the notion of Bully 2, former Rockstar boss Dan Houser admitted that 'bandwidth issues' with a small team led to the game being axed.

Since then, we've seen various Unreal Engine 5 concepts and fan petitions asking for a modern remake or full-blown Bully 2, and calling Rockstar to task, Ashen says: "If they won’t remaster the games then WE will!!!"

Rumors of a potential remake or sequel rising from the grave continue to persist, and if the dust ever settles on GTA VI, fingers crossed that Rockstar will realize it's sitting on such a beloved IP.