GTA 4 Gets A Surprise Update After 2 Years

The is game's first update after its last update in April 2021.

By Asad Ahmed February 9, 2023

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GTA 4 has received a steam patch likely with a few security fixes. This is the game’s first update after it received its last update in 2021.
As some people have been speculating, this is probably aimed at cementing any flaw in GTA 4’s security and protecting its code.
After last year’s hack which almost resulted in a code leak of GTA 6, Rockstar has been wary of any flaw in their security system.

Rockstar has focused most of its resources on developing GTA 6 and rolling out updates for and maintaining GTA 5 online. While GTA 4 has long been forgotten especially after the game’s “Complete Edition” was released in 2020. But it appears the game has now received a new surprise patch.

As stated on SteamDB, this is GTA 4’s first steam patch in almost two years. The game last received a patch in April 2021. This new patch seems to have been about some security fixes to the game. This patch is “surprising” because Rockstar stopped updating GTA 4 after the release of GTA 4: The Complete Edition.

Within a few months of the release of Complete Edition, Rockstar also shut down the multiplayer version. So this new update is really out of the ordinary. It has also prompted some people to come up with their own theories.

Rockstar has become wary of security issues after a UK teenager dramatically breached their security system and leaked the pre-alpha version of GTA 6. The UK teenage hacker also threatened the studio with releasing the code for the game.

The hack nearly derailed the development of GTA 6, as Rockstar scrambled to find the source of the breach. This would have been extremely devastating for Rockstar. So, as some people speculated, this patch is likely intended for cementing any flaws in GTA 4’s security and protecting the game’s code from being stolen.

GTA 4 was Rockstar’s most successful game before GTA 5. It even received more 10/10 reviews than GTA 5. The game took the GTA series to the next level and was hailed as “the game that set a new benchmark for open-world games.”

The game was later marred with a few controversies as some people surprisingly accused it of “promoting violence” and “drunk driving.” But this did not stain the game’s legacy as it is still considered a masterpiece and revered by many gamers around the world.

So it is quite understandable if Rockstar were worried about the game’s code being stolen. Despite all these suppositions, the true purpose of the new patch is unknown.

What do you suppose is the purpose of this new patch to GTA 4? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. In the meantime, here’s a recap of the nightmarish situation that went down last year for Grand Theft Auto 6.