Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive continues to endear itself, as a new wave of trademark disputes aims at terms that include "Rockstar," "2K," "Take-Two," and most significantly "Bully," insinuating that the Bully IP is still a top priority for the company. Take-Two's random dispute sprees started during the summer, as the publisher began aggressively taking down Grand Theft Auto PC mods related to the classic PS2-era games in the franchise under the pretenses the creations were "bad behavior" or harmful to "the economy." As a result, numerous fans speculated that the mods were getting in the way of plans for an unannounced remaster of the groundbreaking hits. These theories were later proven true, as Rockstar Games revealed Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition in early October following months of rumors.
Despite the GTA trilogy remaster release, Take-Two's legal team has continued to file lawsuits and DMCAs to permanently remove many Grand Theft Auto mods and fan projects, leading to its community feeling betrayed and disappointed. In a recent new spree, the publisher painted a target on Grand Theft Auto IV, starting by requesting the removal of numerous decade-old mods before issuing DMCA strikes and permanently taking them from a popular GTA modding community website. While this came as a surprise, many weren't shocked due to a leak by an insider that hinted Rockstar Games' next remaster could be Grand Theft Auto IV bundled with its popular expansions in 2023. Though no evidence was presented, this once again stirred speculation with fans expecting more disputes and DMCA strikes by Take-Two in the future.
In a perplexing post on Twitter, GTA dataminer Ash_735 has shared a list they discovered on the official United States Patent and Trademark Office website that highlights hundreds of filed trademark disputes by Take-Two Interactive. The dataminer claims that the publisher significantly tried to claim words such as "Rockstar," "Take-Two," and even went after EA's co-op action-adventure title It Takes Two. Taking a deeper look at the website, however, reveals that Rockstar also claimed the word "Bully" and term "Bully free world." which makes it seem that the company still sees the IP as a high priority despite no official news or announcement about its future following almost two decades after its release.
While there have been numerous rumors of a Bully sequel since the title's original release 15 years ago, new information regarding the IP continues to surface although no official announcement has been by its developers. Earlier this year, Rockstar games updated the Bully trademark three times in a single day, despite previously being reported that Bully 2 had allegedly been canceled in 2019 due to Rockstar's ongoing work with Grand Theft Auto 6. This rewoke fans who began speculating once more about the possibility of the long-awaited sequel still being in development.
It's unclear what Take-Two is trying to accomplish by claiming ownership of words related to its own games and studios. It seems unlikely that the disputes will fall in the publisher's favor, but could indicate that a sequel for Bully is still in development and could possibly be announced in the future.
Source: Ash_735/Twitter