GTA IV Mysteriously Delisted on Steam

Grand Theft Auto IV — popularly known as GTA 4 — has been delisted from Steam, and it’s currently unclear why. Today, fans began to notice that the second best instalment in the popular and long-running series — behind only GTA San Andreas — was no longer up for purchase on Steam. The listing is still there, but there’s no option to buy it. Making it even weirder, Liberty City is still up for grabs. At the moment of publishing, Rockstar Games hasn’t commented on the development, and thus there’s been no reason given for the sudden delisting.

Now, as you may know, Grand Theft Auto games being delisted isn’t uncommon. Usually, it’s music licensing lapsing. And after a brief period of being delisted, the licenses are either renewed or that music is removed from the game, and the listing goes live again. However, in 2018 Rockstar Games removed and replaced the game’s old music, so surely it can’t be that. However, it could still be a licensing issue. For example, perhaps it has something to do with likeness rights lapsing. Or maybe it has nothing to do with licensing issues. Unfortunately, for now, all we can do is speculate.

More hopeful fans are hoping this somehow points to a remaster or remake of the game, but this seems very unlikely for a multitude of reasons. For example, why would Rockstar Games give hint to its intentions by delisting the game? Surely they would announce the remake or remaster before pulling it from Steam.

Anyway, hopefully we will have more answers soon. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think.

“What does the American dream mean today? For Niko Bellic fresh off the boat from Europe, it is the hope he can escape from his past,” reads an official story synopsis of the game. “For his cousin, Roman, it is the vision that together they can find fortune in Liberty City, gateway to the land of opportunity. As they slip into debt and get dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths, they discover that the reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status, and is heaven for those who have them and a living nightmare for those who don’t.”