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Rockstar explains why it pulled Grand Theft Auto 4 from Steam

If you went to buy Grand Theft Auto IV via Steam and came away empty-handed, this is the reason why.

Brittany Vincent

January 13, 2020 1:50 PM

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If you went to Steam at any point over the weekend aiming to purchase a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, you may have been left wanting.

At first, Rockstar hadn't given any indication that the game would be removed. Instead, people were left wondering what it was that happened to the game, since it was no longer available for purchase. While it was up for grabs in the download histories of people who had bought it before, it was not eligible for new purchases.

Now, Rockstar finally came out into the open on Monday with an explanation about why the game was removed from Steam.

"Grand Theft Auto IV was originally created for the Games For Windows Live platform," Rockstar said in a statement issued this week. "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. We are looking at other options for distributing GTAIV for PC and will share more information as soon as we can."

So the game hasn't been replaced yet, of course, but that doesn't mean it'll never be for sale again. It's also still available for purchase on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms. As far as the decision being made for how to sell the game going forward, well, we'll have to wait and see what Rockstar decides. It does have the Rockstar Launcher, after all.

Brittany Vincent

Senior Editor

Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, Brittany is a Senior Editor at Shacknews who thrives on surrealism and ultraviolence. Follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake and check out her portfolio for more. Like a fabulous shooter once said, get psyched!