GTA 4 turns 15 years old this year. The game can now be considered as an old school title. And some fans for sure would like to play it on their smartphones. In this article, we discover a number of reasons why mobile gamers shouldn't wait for GTA 4 on Android and iOS devices.
Could smartphone hardware run GTA 4?
Smartphone graphics power has progressed significantly in the last few years. In 2023 launching the game of 2008 on your smartphone is possible. Top-end devices can compete in terms of performance with PCs of the past. Some smartphones could run the game if it has good optimization. However GTA 4 lags even on good PC builds. Things are worse on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
GTA 4 never received an updated version for the eighth and ninth generation consoles. The FPS problem has not been fully fixed on PC.
You'll also have to clear more than 20GB of free space on your smartphone for GTA 4.
Who will buy it?
GTA 4 was a bestseller in the first two years after its release. Its sales dropped and were even lower than those of GTA San Andreas. Fan interest in the game dropped even further after GTA 5 was released.
GTA 4's commercial success on Android and iOS is highly questionable. Take-Two will not waste resources to create a port for a little audience. It is hard to believe GTA 4 will get a release on Android and iOS after the failure of GTA: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition and risks of outsourcing development.
GTA 4 has bet on realism and serious storytelling. The game's concept is not well suited for mobile gameplay.
What is Rockstar currently working on?
A small development team is capable of porting an early 2000s game to smartphones. Porting GTA 4 is not the same. It will require a lot of resources and employees. GTA 4 is a game with great visuals and amazing physics. It will require a full studio to make GTA 4 run on a reasonable number of mobile devices.
GTA 6 is in active development. It's also important for Rockstar to support and release DLCs for GTA Online. Rockstar Game's employees have been working overtime when creating RDR 2. Creating a port of GTA 4 on Android and iOS could lead to some crunches.
It seems it is impossible for Rockstar Games to release the game on Android and iOS, especially with the questionable economic benefits of releasing it.
Conclusion
GTA 4 is not suitable for porting to smartphones. The idea of porting it to Android and iOS is unlikely to resonate with both gamers and publishers. The costs of creating such port could easily exceed their possible profits. Perhaps as smartphone performance improves, many fans will be able to play the iconic Grand Theft Auto on emulators. And we won't have to wait for an official port of the game.