Current PlayersPlayers who have previously installed and played Grand Theft Auto IV or Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City will be able to update their copy to Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition through the following means: Steam Users Depending on the game, players on Steam will need to install or update their current game: Note: Because Japanese is a supported language for Grand Theft Auto IV, but is not supported for Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, players will continue to be able to play Grand Theft Auto IV with Japanese sub-titles but will need to select another language in order to play Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City. RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM, and Vice City FM (previously available in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City).The following Radio Stations will be temporarily unavailable in Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition will as also be available via the Rockstar Games Launcher.Ĭurrent game save files will be compatible with Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition.Īs a result of this update the following services will no longer be available in Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition: New PlayersStarting, Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition will replace both Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City wherever it is currently digitally available. We are making a number of changes to make sure players who own Grand Theft Auto IV and GTA: Episodes from Liberty City can continue to enjoy these games. However, Rockstar did promise that the stations would be returning.Important Updates To Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City
It is unclear if it has run into a similar situation with the three stations it is temporarily removing, but that seems like a reasonable guess considering the game has been around for 12 years. Two years ago, Rockstar removed several songs from the game, as well as the entire Russian station Vladivostok FM because of expired licensing agreements. The publisher also said that a few of the radio stations would be temporarily unavailable, including RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM, and Vice City FM. Developers would likely have had to rebuild the entire multiplayer infrastructure. The most probable reason is that GFWL served as the backbone for MP mode. Rockstar did not say why it removed multiplayer. Unfortunately, the updated game will no longer support multiplayer mode or leaderboards.
Owners of either of the former will be able to upgrade to Complete Edition. The update will combine GTA IV and GTA: Episodes from Liberty City into one package called Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition. It will be returning the game to Steam next month on March 19. On Tuesday, Rockstar confirmed that it is removing GFWL from GTA IV. However, the developer was vague about the future of the game, only saying that it was “looking at other options for distributing GTA IV for PC.”
The most obvious solution would have been to patch GFWL out of the title. It was unclear at the time what Rockstar’s plans were for the game.
Last month we reported that the publisher had pulled the game due to problems stemming from it using the now-defunct Games for Windows Live (GFWL) platform. Rockstar announced it will bring GrandTheft Auto IV back to Steam in March. With Microsoft no longer supporting Games For Windows Live, it is no longer possible to generate the additional keys needed to continue selling the current version of the game.” - Rockstar Games
Big quote: “Grand Theft Auto IV was originally created for the Games For Windows Live platform.