Anyone still playing Grand Theft Auto IV and its Episodes From Liberty City expansions on Steam are due for a change-up, as Rockstar has announced major new updates for both titles moving forward. First released over a decade ago in 2008, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV provided fans of their crime-ridden series with a more nuanced, dramatic take on the franchise. While some players didn't agree with this turn towards a more realistic, dark depiction of the criminal underground, most fans praised its engaging story and were impressed with the game's newer, more detailed version of Liberty City.
Not all of the changes GTA IV introduced were applauded by the fans. Some, like the way cars felt more weighty and clunky, were hard for long-time players to get used to, and the lack of many of the more comical and RPG-like aspects of earlier games combined with a friendship system which birthed countless Grand Theft Auto memes focused around the concept of cousins going bowling gave weight to many fan arguments. This new series shift towards more realistic gameplay would pay off in the long run, however, as the next game in the series, GTAV, broke more sales charts than any other media product that came before.
Now, players who are still enjoying GTA IV and its Episodes From Liberty City DLC packs are in for some changes, as Rockstar has revealed new restructuring for their games on GTAIV's Steam page. According to the announcement, Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition will be replacing both GTAIV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on March 19th, 2020. Current save files will remain compatible with the new update, but Grand Theft Auto: Complete Edition will be losing support for Games for Windows Live, multiplayer, and leaderboard listings. Current Windows Live users will need to create (or use their existing) Xbox account to continue playing.
Additionally, RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM, and Vice FM radio stations will all be temporarily unavailable in Grand Theft Auto: Complete Edition. Thankfully, players will seemingly easily be able to update their game to the new version easily by simply installing or updating their current game on Steam, or by downloading the extra DLC content. Players who currently own GTAIV are only looking at a 6GB update, whereas those who only own Episodes from Liberty City will need 22GB of free space to install Grand Theft Auto: Complete Edition.
This change appears to be a free update, so anyone who only owns one version of the Grand Theft Auto IV story looks to be getting the others at no extra cost. The loss of multiplayer is surely detrimental to those few players who still utilized it, but since the majority of the series' fans have since moved on to GTA Online by way of GTAV, it's not surprising Rockstar would discontinue support. It has been over a decade, after all, and news of the next Grand Theft Auto game should be right around the corner.
Source: Steam