Hard as it is to believe, Microsoft’s ‘Games For Windows – Live‘ — a service that sought to bring an Xbox-like, cross-gaming backend to PC titles for Windows — is still causing games to be delisted six years after its retirement. The latest instance is Grand Theft Auto IV which launched in 2008 and disappeared from Steam just about a week ago. A Rockstar spokesperson spoke to USgamer to explain the situation:

“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. We are looking at other options for distributing GTA4 for PC and will share more information as soon as we can.”

It’s not hard to imagine that Rockstar will be retooling the title to make an exclusive appearance on their own games launcher as long as the work-vs-income ratio lines up for them. Meanwhile, the game can still be downloaded on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 including the well-regarded Gay Tony and Lost and Damned DLCs. I’ll get the PC version up on the site soon and hope that a relisting announcement isn’t too far off.