Rockstar confirms Games for Windows Live to blame for GTA IV disappearance

Over the weekend, people were quick to notice that Grand Theft Auto IV has mysteriously disappeared from the Steam store. This has happened to other GTA games in the past due to expiring music licenses but this time around, the situation is different. Rockstar has now confirmed that GTA IV is no longer available on PC due to the closure of Games for Windows Live.

Games for Windows Live was one of Microsoft's failed attempts at getting back into the PC gaming market. The service officially began closing down back in 2013 and while some games recieved updates to remove Games for Windows Live, Grand Theft Auto IV wasn't one of them. As a result, Rockstar can no longer generate new keys to continue selling the game on PC.

Here is the full statement a Rockstar spokesperson sent to The Verge today: “Grand Theft Auto IV was originally created for the Games For Windows Live platform. 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.”

Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, Bioshock 2 and Dark Souls all made moves to remove Games for Windows Live many years ago. Rockstar seems to have sat on the situation until it finally became a real problem. Hopefully in the weeks to come, we'll have an update and GTA IV can return to sale on PC.

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KitGuru Says: Rockstar has likely been looking into this for a little while now, as they will want to put GTA IV on the new Rockstar Games Launcher. With that in mind, hopefully progress is a little further along than we might otherwise expect.

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