After a short hiatus, Grand Theft Auto IV is making its triumphant return to Steam next month.
Rockstar Games announced today that the open-world hit would be re-released in a new package called the GTA IV: Complete Edition on March 19. This version will replace the original version of GTA IV and include GTA: Episodes from Liberty City – the downloadable, episodic content comprising The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Complete Edition might be a bit of misnomer, though. All of GTA IV’s online components have been scrapped in this version. That would include Games for Windows Live – Microsoft’s long-defunct gaming service – as well as multiplayer mode and leaderboards.
The Complete Edition has also lost a couple of radio stations. RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM, and Vice City FM (previously available in GTA: Episodes from Liberty City) will be “temporarily unavailable.” (This implies that the stations will be back later, but they could be gone for good.)
Rockstar revealed last month that it was forced to remove GTA IV from Steam because it couldn’t generate any more keys for the game.
“Grand Theft Auto 4 was originally created for the Games For Windows Live platform,” the company told USgamer. “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 GTA4 for PC and will share more information as soon as we can.”
Luckily, Rockstar was able to figure out how to get the game back on everyone’s favorite gaming store. It will also be available through the Rockstar Games Launcher.
Current Players
Players 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:
- Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City will be removed and replaced with GTAIV: Complete Edition in the launcher library. Update file size is expected to be approximately 22GB
- Grand Theft Auto IV owners will download content from Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City and their game will update to GTAIV: Complete Edition. Update file size is expected to be approximately 6GB
Physical Media
- Games not previously activated using Games for Windows Live will be able to use the Key on the back of the game manual to activate and update to Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition
Games for Windows Live Digital Store Purchases
- Games previously activated using Games for Windows Live will require players to create and/or link their Social Club accounts in replacement of Games for Windows Live to update to Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition