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GTA 4 is one of the most adored games in the series. Rockstar Games released the first HD Universe game on April 29, 2008, and continued to provide official support until March 2020, after which the studio seemingly abandoned the title.
However, the PC version received an unexpected update on the Steam Store last week. Although Rockstar did not release any official notes about the update, data miners dug through the files and discovered some security-related changes in the game.
This news prompted fans to discuss the recent remote code exploitation bug and how the gaming studio is sealing all potential weak points to keep players safe. This article explains why the 2023 GTA 4 update is a big deal for players.
Note: This article is subjective and only reflects the writer's opinions.
Rockstar Games released a GTA 4 update to address security concerns with Social Club
On February 9, 2023, Rockstar Games released a new update for Grand Theft Auto 4 on PC. It was one of the first updates the game received after being dormant for many years. The 150 MB update changed the build ID of the title and fixed some security-related issues.
While most GTA 4 players are unaware of the changes, the gaming studio is said to have updated security patches for the Rockstar Games Launcher and Social Club application.
The Social Club platform was launched in 2008, and Grand Theft Auto 4 was the first game to be integrated with the online service. Although the multiplayer version of the game has been officially discontinued since March 19, 2020, the single-player mode continues to rely on Social Club data to validate game components.
The remote code execution exploits for GTA 5 and Online PC versions, discovered by game data miners on January 21, target players' Social Club accounts for corrupting their game data. Although modders and hackers primarily targeted players in the most recent games, Grand Theft Auto 4 also requires an active Social Club connection to register player progress.
Amidst heated debates and widespread online protests, Rockstar Games released a security-related title update for the latest games on February 1, which eliminated the hacking risk to an extent and allowed players to return to both games safely.
While most players are pleased with this fix, the gaming studio did not stop there and fixed all potential exploitation points that hackers and modders could leverage to ruin the gaming experience. The most recent update is also part of how the gaming studio secures the game from any Social Club exploitation.
Popular Rockstar Games insider Gaming Detective also confirmed the news and stated that the gaming studio is taking player security more seriously. The GTA Online PC fiasco affected the company's reputation as players from all over the world urged it to make the game safe for its users.
Although the developers took more than 10 days to release the first update, it extended the security measures to other Social Club-integrated PC games, such as Red Dead Online and GTA 4, which also received patch updates within a few days.
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