GTA 4 GFWL saves will no longer be supported in Rockstar Games Launcher

There are some major changes coming for players relying on GTA 4 GFWL saves contained within the Rockstar Games Launcher. Rockstar has officially confirmed that, beginning August 25, 2025, the launcher will no longer scan your computer for older Games For Windows – Live save files.

This means that the automatic migration system that fans have come to know and love will be phased out for GTA 4 GFWL save file conversion, with manual transfers being the only available method. Here is more about GTA 4 GFWL saves.

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Rockstar Games Launcher drops support for GTA 4 GFWL saves

Glimpse from GTA 4 (Image via Rockstar Games)

Automatic migration ends this month

Since 2020, when Rockstar re-released GTA 4 on Steam without Games for Windows – Live, the studio made the transition smoother by building a background scanner into its launcher. That tool automatically looked for old GTA 4 GFWL saves and imported them into the Rockstar ecosystem.

But with this new update, the launcher’s auto-scan will disappear on August 25, 2025. If you install or reinstall the title after that date, the Rockstar Games Launcher won’t automatically pull in your old save data. For players still sitting on legacy files, there’s a short grace period: the auto-scan will remain available until September 16, 2025. After that, everything will have to be done manually.

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How manual save game migration works in GTA IV

Rockstar has outlined a clear process for players who still want to carry over their progress. The steps aren’t complicated, but they do require a little file management:

1. Install the Rockstar Games Launcher.
2. Install Grand Theft Auto IV through the launcher.
3. Open the Launcher Settings.
4. Under My Installed Games, select GTA IV.
5. Next to View Save Files, click Open.
6. In a separate File Explorer window, locate your old GFWL save data. Look for folders named savegames, or check these paths: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames
7. Copy the legacy save files into the Rockstar save folder from Step 5.
8. Launch GTA IV, and your saves should load in the new environment.

It’s a straightforward process, but it requires players to take action themselves, especially if they’ve been relying on the Rockstar Games Launcher’s background import all these years.

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Why Rockstar is moving on

Games for Windows – Live shut down back in 2014, but its remnants lingered in GTA 4 until the 2020 update. At that time, Rockstar fully integrated the title with its own services, and the Rockstar Games Launcher was designed to bridge the gap for old GTA 4 GFWL saves. Five years later, that bridge is being retired.

In short, Rockstar is consolidating its support under its own systems, leaving behind the extra background tools built during the transition. The upside is that players still won’t lose access to their old saves as long as they manually move them over before or after the September cutoff.

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That concludes our article on GTA 4 GFWL saves for Rockstar Games Launcher.

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