- Fan-made Bully Online adds full online multiplayer to Bully: Scholarship Edition on PC.
- Features include free-roam roleplay, economy and inventory, vehicles, housing, and instanced minigames like Rat Wars and racing.
- Built on the DSL script loader plugin, enabling real-time sync and advanced modding once thought impossible.
- Early Access planned for December via Ko-Fi with perks; a broader, free public release is intended later.
For PC players who have been revisiting Bullworth Academy for years, a long-requested feature is finally materializing: proper online multiplayer. A community-led project dubbed Bully Online is transforming Bully: Scholarship Edition on PC into a shared-world experience where friends can meet up, roam, and cause mild havoc together.
Announced by Rockstar-focused creator SWEGTA, the project has been in the works for quite some time with help from a small modding team. The reveal highlighted a suite of systems aimed at making multiplayer feel native to Bully’s world, from casual free-roam and roleplay to structured activities and minigames, all while sticking to a grounded, schoolyard tone.
What is Bully Online?
At its core, Bully Online is a fan-made online mode for the PC version of Bully: Scholarship Edition. Rather than a simple co-op toggle, it reimagines the game as a social sandbox: players can gather in Bullworth and its surrounding town, join events, or just hang out and explore.
The reveal trailer and gameplay snippets show players teaming up, racing around town, participating in instanced activities, and roleplaying in the familiar halls and streets. The aim isn’t to turn Bully into a clone of another game; it’s to create a multiplayer layer that feels consistent with the original’s tone and scope.
How it works under the hood
The team is building the mod on the DSL script loader, a plugin that opens the door to far deeper changes than Bully originally allowed. This tool lets modders implement custom scripts, synchronize events between players, and stitch together systems that previously seemed out of reach.
Thanks to this foundation, features like real-time player interaction, server connectivity, and new gameplay logic are possible without altering Bully’s core identity. In other words, DSL enables the project to feel like an online mode rather than a quick workaround.
What you can actually do
Beyond standard free-roam, Bully Online layers in an economy and progression loop. Players can earn cash from minigames, objectives, or trading and then spend it on housing, vehicles, and other items. An inventory system ties it together, supporting everyday interactions and roleplay.
Vehicles are more than props: purchased rides come with unique keys to lock and secure them, discouraging theft and adding a light ownership dynamic. It’s a small touch that makes shared spaces feel more believable.
The project also introduces new, multiplayer-focused activities designed to run in separate instances to prevent griefing. Highlights include a racing mode with customized vehicles and tracks, plus “Rat Wars,” a tongue-in-cheek FPS-style minigame starring oversized rats that delivers shooting action without introducing firearms into Bullworth’s open world.
Early Access, support, and public servers
The team plans to open a private official server in December for Ko‑Fi supporters. Backers will receive perks such as server queue priority, an in-game digital camera, a special blue name tag, and behind‑the‑scenes updates including videos, images, and developer commentary.
Following this limited rollout, the intention is a wider release that anyone with the PC version of Bully can install and play. The mod is expected to be free for the general public when the broader release arrives, with timing dependent on development progress and polish.
Community context and potential hurdles
Bully Online follows earlier community efforts, including a 2018 multiplayer project that eventually went dormant; some ideas are being repurposed here with a different technical approach and scope. The current project’s public server plans suggest a more structured path to long‑term support.
As with many high‑profile fan projects, there are questions about how the publisher might respond. Some observers note that Take‑Two has previously issued cease‑and‑desist letters to certain mod initiatives, while others point out that Bully Online isn’t competing with Rockstar’s live‑service titles. For now, the team is pressing ahead with Early Access and aiming for a broader, public launch.
With a focus on roleplay, instanced minigames, a functional economy, and smart technical underpinnings, Bully Online seeks to deliver authentic shared-world play without straying from the series’ tone. If the early access phase goes smoothly and the legal weather holds, fans could soon have a living, social version of Bullworth to revisit whenever they like.
