Grand Theft Auto IV has been removed from sale on Steam

[Pix]

Just noticed this on Steam this afternoon but you can no longer purchase the game on Steam. Most likely this is due to either Games for Windows Live and/or expired music license. You can still get Episodes from Liberty City for now but I expect this game to be back at some point in the future.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/12210/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV/

 

[2CL4Mars]

REMAKE BABY!

Spoiler

It isn't...

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

I can't check right now but is it for sale on the Rockstar Launcher?

 

[RoboitoAM]

Shouldn't be GFWL, Rockstar gives no fuck and tells you to go to another site to make an account

It'll be back at some point

Edit: as far as I know it's the only GTA besides the first two that is NOT on the Rockstar Launcher

 

[SteveWinwood]

thanks gfwl!

your legacy is intact!

 

[nded]

Perhaps they're moving it to their new launcher.

 

[Pix]

I can't check right now but is it for sale on the Rockstar Launcher?

Click to shrink...

It was never on the launcher to begin with, just Steam.

 

[Castamere]

It'll be back but all the music will be replaced by 1940s Big BAnd JAzz.

 

[funky]

Steam sell plenty of games that dont work so I dont thin its down to that. They have been perfectly fine selling it for YEARS as it was.

 

[Squarealex]

Hmm
Licence issue?

 

[Horns]

Would love a remake of this game. GFWL was the worst.

 

[Deleted member 18502]

Dumb question, can I still d/l from Steam? I already own it.

 

[SteveWinwood]

Dumb question, can I still d/l from Steam? I already own it.

Click to shrink...

yes

 

[BrickArts295]

Another song bites the dust.

 

[Max|Payne]

Realistically it's probably just due to song licenses but hopefully it comes back on sale without GFWL and, like, ported to GTAV engine.

 

[TheMrPliskin]

I'm guessing it's licensing but it would be real nice if they were removing GWFL.

 

[Deleted member 23046]

It'll be back but all the music will be replaced by 1940s Big BAnd JAzz.

Click to shrink...

And balkanamericana music.

 

[Richietto]

Hope this means they will finally remove GFWL from it. That shit doesn't even work on my computer anymore.

 

[jediyoshi]

Steam sell plenty of games that dont work so I dont thin its down to that. They have been perfectly fine selling it for YEARS as it was.

Click to shrink...

The implication isn't that this is Valve's doing.

 

[data west]

Small indie company Rockstar can't afford to pay music rights

 

[vestan]

BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL VLADIVOSTOK FM

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Probably just one of the song licenses has expired and needs to be renewed and/or removed.

 

[Madjoki]

Didn't they already remove the music once?

 

[Desma]

Dumb question, can I still d/l from Steam? I already own it.

Click to shrink...

You probably should download and set it to never update.

They could release a patch removing tracks later, like how they did with San Andreas

 

[Deleted member 7462]

I'm thinking music licenses.

 

[Kraken3dfx]

Small indie company Rockstar can't afford to pay music rights

Click to shrink...

Daddy Houser needs his 7th beach house, you ingrate.

 

[Wetalo]

Was literally thinking this morning about how Rockstar can really breathe a second wind into GTA IV with a Switch port.

I played through Episodes from Liberty City within this past year and it really was great, and I didn't remember GTA IV in such high regard. Playing through the episodes made me realize just how solid it actually was.

 

[Rosebud]

I have it, but couldn't they warn before?

 

[LewieP]

You can buy Steam keys here for the time being

https://www.cdkeys.com/pc/games/grand-theft-auto-iv-4-complete-edition-pc-cd-key-steam

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

Didn't they already remove the music once?

Click to shrink...

Yep. :/

 

[Lant_War]

I hope they're pulling a Saints Row 2 and re-porting the gamd

 

[Alvis]

I hope they're pulling a Saints Row 2 and re-porting the gamd

Click to shrink...

lmao

They can't even be bothered to release a decent modern version of GTA3, Vice City or San Andreas. Their highest effort was hiring some terrible company to do a terrible broken port of San Andreas from the mobile version to PS3 / Xbox 360 in order to continue being able to sell the game after the music license issues (they couldn't sell the PS2 classics or the original Xbox digital version anymore). Rockstar is one of the worst companies in gaming regarding preservation.

 

[MBS]

I'd happily pay 30 bucks for a proper PS4 remaster.

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Fuck, I should've bought it instead of waiting till I eventually had a gaming pc:/

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

Double post

 

[Yarbskoo]

I can't wait for it to come back with less music and the same amount of GFWL.

 

[ThreepwoodMighty]

Not only GTA GFWL has broken in Steam.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Imagine making all the money rockstar makes and then being cheap pieces of shit when it comes to music licensing

 

[Deleted member 55311]

FFS please give me a system I'm not allowed to mention port. I don't even want to play it on PC anymore.

Is there any reason why game companies can't develop contracts that allow them to keep music in a game forever?

 

[Rosebud]

Fuck, I should've bought it instead of waiting till I eventually had a gaming pc:/

Click to shrink...

You can still buy keys

 

[Foffy]

Didn't Rockstar merely patch out songs but allow the purchase of their games anyway?

The pessimist in me makes me think they're going to migrate it to their own service...

 

[BasilZero]

Small indie company Rockstar can't afford to pay music rights

Click to shrink...

😂

It likely is because of the licensing issue

At the very least we can add custom music if I remember right so any missing tracks can be recovered that way at least

 

[SkoomaBlade]

Removing GFWL is my assumption. They can just patch songs out/in like they did not too long ago.

 

[GrrImAFridge]

You probably should download and set it to never update.

They could release a patch removing tracks later, like how they did with San Andreas

Click to shrink...

If that happens, you can use Steam's console to download the previous build.

Edit: I should add that since the game has been pulled from sale, it's unlikely that existing owners would be affected (see: Vice City).

 

[butterbutt!]

I'd buy this again if the port weren't awful.

 

[Loxley]

I have it, but couldn't they warn before?

Click to shrink...

Fuck, I should've bought it instead of waiting till I eventually had a gaming pc:/

Click to shrink...

The fact that they did this with no warning signals one of two things to me, either:

1. They're just moving it to the Rockstar launcher
or
2. They temporarily took it down to remove music they no longer have the license to use, but will bring it back

 

[BasilZero]

The fact that they did this with no warning signals one of two things to me, either:

1. They're just moving it to the Rockstar launcher
or
2. They temporarily took it down to remove music they no longer have the license to use, but will bring it back

Click to shrink...

If so why is the better game San Andreas or V still on both stores

 

[Spacejaws]

I look forward to living to 150years old when all the Grand Theft Auto music licensing issues are resolved by all the music they used becoming public domain and can be patched back into the games, then reading the outrage where people complain these weren't the games they grew up on in the 2070s and this old ass cringe music is whey whack brehs.

 

[Deleted member 7948]

Is there any reason why game companies can't develop contracts that allow them to keep music in a game forever?

Click to shrink...

Yes, money.

 

[Deleted member 3010]

Got it years ago, yay!