Popular video game that sold more than a million copies was banned from UK shops after backlash from parents

Rockstar Games might be best known for its Grand Theft Auto series, which has attracted plenty of controversy over the years, but there are other games that have attracted criticism over the years too.

Back in 2006, it released Bully, a game that never got a sequel but is still a cult classic for many gamers.

It sees players take on the role of a pupil at an elite private school, and involves a lot of, well, bullying.

Rockstar Games

The title was accurate, then, and the game was a little bit like a smaller-scope GTA set in the area of a school instead of a huge landscape with city and rural areas.

You played as "Jimmy", a newly-arrived 15-year-old student who had to defend himself against school bullies at a fictional US boarding school called Bullworth Academy while earning respect from various factions like the nerds, the preppies, the jocks and even the teachers.

This involved doing favours, but also having fist-fights, including using weapons like baseball bats, and pulling pranks.

It turns out the game was controversial even before it actually came out, though, with people in the UK kicking up a storm in particular.

In 2005, when the game had been announced but was still a while away from actually being available in stores, then-Labour MP Keith Vaz made a statement about it: "I am appalled at the subject matter of this so-called 'game'. Although I have not seen it I am aware of its contents.

"The manufacturers of this game should not release it. They should consider the effect that it will have on children, parents and teachers. Bullying is a hateful activity and it would be wrong to glorify it."

This prompted the UK retailer Currys PC World to decide it wouldn't sell the game.

Hamish Thompson, a spokesperson from DSG International, the parent company of Curry PC World, told the BBC at the time: "We took a view that because it touches on a sensitive issue - violence in school - that it is not a product we would stock. We are committed to a good working relationship with Rockstar Games and will continue to stock all of its other titles."

This prompted Rockstar to respond, issuing a statement: "We support and admire the groups who are working hard to address the long-standing problem of bullying.

"We all have different opinions about art and entertainment, but everyone agrees that real-life school violence is a serious issue which lacks easy answers. Bully is still a work-in-progress, but when it's finished we believe most people will agree it offers an exciting experience and tells an engaging story.

"More and more people are beginning to recognise that the stories in video games have as many themes and plot lines as books and movies. Just as books aren't judged by their covers, video games shouldn't be judged by their titles or individual scenes."

So, it was a stormy time which saw the game lose out on some shop appearances, although it still became a moderate success eventually.