What is the difference between "Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition" and "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition"?

[FrylockArgento]

I bought "Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition" 7 years ago. I didn't play it much, and now I realize that the game in my library changed to "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition", and now it has achievements. What differences are there between the two?

[skriptozaurus_rex]

The Grand Theft Auto IV Complete Edition has The Lost and Damned and the Balad of Gay Tony. The GTA IV non complete edition doesn't have this two dlc :) Rockstar games announced in January the change for GTA IV because they can't generate key in Windows Live, and also they make some change.

[skriptozaurus_rex]

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/12210/view/3176663794401897531

[ShiftyMarmot]

Like barbuiastefandaniel said, this new Complete edition merges GTA IV and the two episodes into 1 neat package, and also removes Games for Windows Live.

[Yujah]

The old complete edition was a mere bundling of the two standalone products "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City". The new one is an integrated single product spanning the same content.

As to said integration, GTA4 from the previous complete edition would (for example, I guess) upon autoloading the newest savegame at startup stumble if said newest one was in fact from one of the episodes; would proclaim the EFLC DLC not installed, whereas with the new complete edition all's fine.

The biggest difference is that both titles from the old complete edition used Microsoft's GFWL, Games for Windows Live, which Microsoft has for a few years been in the process of retiring, and which it as of early this year does not generate new keys for anymore. I.e., although for now old GFWL-using games still work, they won't forever, and as of early this year Rockstar was unable to sell new copies of the game(s).

GFWL was responsible for the (online) multiplayer infrastructure, so lack of multiplayer is the most definite lack. GFWL could've been replaced with the Rockstar "Social Club" but that is at the very least for now not implemented; there's no multiplayer in the new complete edition, and there will likely never be again.

Although not so much a difference with the old complete edition as such (since it also already in its newest patch-version removed quite a bit of music) the new complete edition also removed further music from what you bought 7 years ago. As to some iconic tracks from the in-game radio station Vladiwostok FM I find that to in fact be somewhat unfortunate but personally care little. If you do, there are guides out there describing how to add original music back. The reason is expiring licenses.

"Modding" support, if you're into that, seems for now mostly limited to the old GFWL versions. You'd downgrade to any such version using a guide from for example this forum if you care for fan-modified textures or some such; I do not.

Steam-achievements you already mentioned yourself; they now mirror the achievements on the Rockstar Social Club, which although it was always a requirement is now more "in your face" so as a result of the Rockstar Game Launcher; you'll for example as far as I'm aware, and maybe/hopefully "for now", have to have an active online connection to the Social Club to be able to save a game; GFWL used to have an option to use an offline profile.

When the new Complete Edition rolled out, anyone who had either "Grand Theft Auto IV" or "Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City" got it all so in that case you got a lot more content, but specifically as to the old vs. new ""complete edition" the tl;dr then is that nothing much changed other than multiplayer, at least for those without issue with the RGL/Social Club.

[Jinzo]

DLCs, no optimisation, no original radio tracks, no multiplayer.