Rockstar confirmed that it can no longer generate the keys required to keep selling the game

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Grand Theft Auto IV No Longer Being Sold On Steam

Grand Theft Auto IV was pulled from Steam because of the now-defunct Games for Windows Live, but it’s coming back to PC at some point. Rockstar has released a statement confirming our speculation that Games for Windows Live is to blame for the removal of Grand Theft Auto 4 from Steam.

“Grand Theft Auto 4 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,” a Rockstar rep said. “We are looking at other options for distributing GTA4 for PC and will share more information as soon as we can.”

Grand Theft Auto 4 was originally released on Windows PC in December 2008, the year after Microsoft launched Games For Windows Live alongside Shadowrun for PC and Xbox 360. Microsoft discontinued support for Games For Windows Live in 2014, leading many developers to update their games to remove hooks into the service.

What’s also interesting is that the Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City standalone story expansions are still available on Steam for purchase, though the Complete Edition – which has the base game and expansions – has also been given the removal treatment.

As is usually the case with these kinds of situations, those who already own the open-world action game on the Valve platform aren’t affected by this, giving them free rein to continue Niko Bellic’s adventures.

GTA4 is hardly the first game to have to deal with the dead end of Games for Windows Live, but other publishers, including Capcom, Bandai Namco, Epic, WBIE, 2K, and Codemasters, made the transition years ago. Rockstar didn’t say why GTA4’s dependence on the platform has only become an issue now, but hopefully we’ll see it return to Steam with proper Steamworks support soon.