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Grand Theft Auto IV is coming back to Steam as Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition, but it’s missing things, like its multiplayer mode, leaderboards, and Games for Windows Live connectivity (via Twitter).
A couple of radio stations in the game (RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM, and Vice City FM) will be temporarily off air, which is likely to be the result of various music licensing agreements having expired. It does insinuate that Rockstar Games is looking to renew these, and so players will soon be able to drive around Liberty City with (most) of the classic sounds from the 2008 game. The publisher also stated that the Complete Edition will subsume Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City wherever it is currently digitally available. And, the game will be found on the Rockstar Games Launcher, too, with current save files on PC syncing up to the Complete Edition.
Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition will arrive on March 19. But, the game’s multiplayer mode, the leaderboards, and its support for Games with Windows Live will be left by the wayside. This is due to the discontinuation of Games for Windows Live, and those players who want to install the current edition of Grand Theft Auto IV between now and March 19 might run into a few hiccups.
Rockstar Games explained how players will be able to update their copy of the game to the Complete Edition, too. On Steam, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City will be replaced with Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition in the library with a 22 GB update. Grand Theft Auto IV will get a 6 GB update that adds content from Episodes from Liberty City, and that will then become Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition in the library. Physical copies that have not been “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,” and digital purchases of the game 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.”
Grand Theft Auto IV is out now on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
