Bully Scholarship Edition still holds up on Steam twenty years after Rockstar released the original. The Bullworth Academy pitch, the class-schedule days, and the schoolyard fight system are the reason people still replay it every summer. If you have finished the missions, kissed both Mandy and Beatrice, and want more games in the same shape, this list covers the desktop games that pick up at least one thread Bully first pulled.
We looked at Bully alternatives on Steam, GOG, the Epic Store, and the Microsoft Store. Every pick actually runs on Windows in 2026 and captures at least one of Bully’s three legs: a school setting, a Rockstar-style open sandbox, or a fight system that rewards mixing tools.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persona 5 Royal | The school-year time system | No | $59.99 | Confidant social sim |
| Yakuza Kiwami | Beat-em-up sandbox with heart | Xbox trial | $19.99 | Kamurocho open district |
| GTA San Andreas Definitive | Rockstar open-world sandbox | No | $19.99 | 100+ hour campaign |
| Life is Strange True Colors | Small-town social drama | No | $39.99 | Empathy-power narrative |
| Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy | Cinematic 2000s throwback | No | $9.99 | Multi-viewpoint story |
| Sunset Overdrive | Chaotic teenage energy | No | $19.99 | Traversal-first combat |
| Hi-Fi Rush | Rhythmic Rockstar spirit | No | $29.99 | Beat-locked action |
Why Bully still stands, and what to hunt for
Bully carries three specific hooks. A calendar structure with morning classes and detention. An open-world town small enough to feel personal. And a punch-kick fight system that leans on tools like slingshots and stink bombs. What alternatives cover in 2026:
- The calendar hook lives in JRPGs. Persona is the direct heir, though the school setting shifts to Tokyo.
- The Rockstar sandbox lives in Rockstar’s own back catalog. GTA San Andreas is the closest match, and Yakuza carries the district-scale sandbox forward.
- The fight system lives in beat-em-ups. Yakuza and Sunset Overdrive both trade in that lineage.
Persona 5 Royal - Best for the school-year system
Persona 5 Royal takes the school-calendar structure Bully built its story around and makes it the entire game. You wake up, go to class, form Confidant relationships, and dungeon-crawl at night. The Royal edition on Steam is the definitive version and runs about 130 hours.
Where it falls short: no open-world fights. Combat is turn-based JRPG. Setting shifts from Bullworth prep to a Tokyo high school.
Pricing: $59.99 on Steam, Epic Store, and Xbox Game Pass PC. Frequent $30 sales.
Download: Steam | Epic Games | Xbox
Bottom line: the safest way to spend the next 100 hours if Bully’s school arc was the pull.
Yakuza Kiwami - Best for the district sandbox
Yakuza Kiwami delivers the “small open world with real people” pitch Bully leaned on. Kamurocho is compact enough to memorize, side stories are dense, and the beat-em-up combat has a similar tool-use vocabulary. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s remaster refreshed the visuals from the PS2 original.
Where it falls short: not a school setting. Story pace is slower than Bully. Language switching between subtitles and dubs is not perfect.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam. Yakuza 0 at $19.99 is a better entry if you have not played the series.
Download: Steam | Microsoft Store
Bottom line: the sandbox pick if the school angle is negotiable.
GTA San Andreas Definitive - Best for the direct Rockstar match
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Definitive Edition is the closest Rockstar game to Bully. Los Santos to San Fierro to Las Venturas is bigger than Bullworth, but the mission structure, the melee system, and the vibe all trace to the same design team. The Definitive Edition patched the launch mess through 2023.
Where it falls short: not a school setting. Gang violence and profanity make it a different tonal experience.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam. GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition on Netflix mobile if you already sub.
Download: Steam | Rockstar Games Launcher
Bottom line: same DNA as Bully. Different neighborhood.
Life is Strange True Colors - Best for the small-town social drama
Life is Strange True Colors carries the small-community, coming-of-age tone that Bully mixed into its Bullworth story. Combat is out. Conversations, relationships, and choice consequences are in. The Colorado mining-town setting delivers the same “everyone knows everyone” pull.
Where it falls short: no combat, no sandbox. If Bully’s fight system was the draw, this is not for you.
Pricing: $39.99 on Steam and Epic. $19.99 during sales.
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: the pick if the story hooks and characters were Bully’s biggest wins for you.
Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy Remastered - Best for the 2000s cinematic vibe
Fahrenheit Indigo Prophecy Remastered is the same-era cinematic action-adventure that Bully sat next to on 2005 shelves. Quantic Dream’s multi-character story bends between four playable perspectives. The remaster fixed the aging controls and audio.
Where it falls short: not open world. Linear story. The 2005 story choices show their age.
Pricing: $9.99 on Steam and GOG.
Bottom line: the deep cut for Bully-era nostalgia.
Sunset Overdrive - Best for the chaotic teenage energy
Sunset Overdrive landed on PC in 2018 and stayed there. Insomniac’s grind-and-shoot open-world tone captures the same “everything is a toy” chaos that Bully thrived on. Missions run short and the traversal is closer to Tony Hawk than Rockstar.
Where it falls short: no school. Shooter-first, not brawler-first. Dialogue is a lot.
Pricing: $19.99 on Steam and Microsoft Store. Regular $5 sales.
Download: Steam | Microsoft Store
Bottom line: the chaotic-teen energy heir Bully never got.
Hi-Fi Rush - Best for Rockstar spirit at half the runtime
Hi-Fi Rush is Tango Gameworks’ rhythm-locked action game. Not a school, not an open world, but the character-first tone and the “everything moves to the beat” hook are the closest thing to Bully’s playful design sense in a modern release.
Where it falls short: linear, short at 12 hours, and the rhythm mechanic is a real skill floor for players who fight rhythm games.
Pricing: $29.99 on Steam, Xbox, and Epic. Native Xbox Game Pass.
Bottom line: for anyone who loved Bully’s playful confidence more than its schoolyard.
How to pick
Pick Persona 5 Royal if the school-year loop was Bully’s biggest hook for you. Pick Yakuza Kiwami if you want a sandbox with a small district and a brawler in your pocket. Pick GTA San Andreas Definitive if what you loved was Rockstar’s whole approach and you want more of it. Pick Life is Strange True Colors if the storytelling and characters mattered more than the mechanics. Stay with Bully Scholarship Edition if Bullworth itself is what you keep coming back to, since no game since has recreated that campus.
FAQ
Is Bully on Steam? Yes. Bully Scholarship Edition is on Steam at $19.99. It runs at 60 FPS and has native Xbox controller support out of the box.
Is there a Bully 2 in development? Nothing official. Take-Two has never announced a sequel. Persistent Rockstar rumors circulate but nothing has been confirmed on the roadmap through 2026.
What is the best free Bully alternative on PC? There is no direct free equivalent. Yakuza 0 comes to Xbox Game Pass PC every few months. GTA V Story Mode via Game Pass is another route.
Can Bully run on Steam Deck? Yes, Steam Deck Verified as of the 2024 refresh. Reports of controller mapping issues on the first run patched through Proton updates.
Which of these games has the closest fight system to Bully? Yakuza Kiwami, by a wide margin. Sunset Overdrive is closer in tone but its combat is shooter-first.
