There is no "free" when a client program like this is involved.

Oh yeah, my favorite too.
Did Rockstar release GTA 2 for free, in a DRM free version in the past ? Is it still possible to get this version ?
edit : ok I got it.

Soooo, next launcher will come from Disney... or THQ... or Take Two Interactive?

d. All of the Above.

Llamasoft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Minter

Maybe Square enix. "We're working on that in a variety of ways," Matsuda said. "That is a request that we hear often. As far as our major titles go, most of those, we still have variations out that you can play now. The more classic titles that you might have played on NES, we are still working hard to make it so you can play those. We actually have launched a dedicated project internally to port those, so we are working to make them available on a variety of platforms. Certainly down the road, we would like to see that on a subscription or streaming service, so we're exploring the possibility of creating a dedicated channel for ourselves." https://www.gameinformer.com/e3-2019/2019/06/12/square-enix-committed-to-making-its-complete-library-available-digitally

it runs... meh. also controller support is absolutely terrible. you think they'd at least fix controller issues. it's really bad.

Perfect public service :D

Yeah. Rockstar released a somewhat tweaked versions of both GTA 1 and 2, few years ago. And while the London 1969 expansion was and still is, free, both london expansions are incompatible with that version.

You can still get them both. If somebody who had downloaded them and stashed them away, back then, kept them around and bother to share. There was also a third game offered free, but i don't remember its name.

If you want, i can share them with you, through private communication, since here i cannot post links due to low rep. I have a dropbox and MEGA account. Also, one person over at GTA forums in Steam, compiled a perfect edition of GTA1 with both of its expansions, with custom launcher, compatibility with modern systems, completely free and DRM-Free! I linked that here in the past, but GOG employees said it was illegal, because abandonware status is a hot potato. Still, though, neither Rockstar nor Steam employees had any problem with it whatsover, since it still has a dedicated thread in the game's discussion there, so...

As game streaming approaches, things are only going to get worse. Think of all the TV streaming services that have been announced: it seems like every American entertainment company wants to be the next Netflix. Game companies could be building infrastructure for something similar. Unlike with TV, it would be harder to subscribe to a game streaming service for only a month, so large companies could turn quite a profit.

It's very kind of you, but the link given above still let you download GTA 1 & 2 for free :
https://gta.com.ua/rockstargames-classics-free-download.phtml

I just did it last day (still not trying in Windows 10).
First time, it oppened two sites, but one of them is the good one.

This site, isn't the official Rockstar classics one. UA extension means its Ukranian. The official download links are down, over the last few years. And the third game is absent. And the GTA1 offered here, isn't complete.

At least, go download the GTA MAX PACK, from steam forums. As people say: "It's the best version of GTA1 you 'll ever gonna play"!

Ok so I was curious about this and decided to grab it and see. Here is how to get the current free version DRM free:

Out of the box it uses DRM. Launching it directly will want to login to your Rockstar account. However the No CD patches will work with this version and make it DRM free as its just 1.01.

So I installed it via their launcher copied the entire GTA SA folder to a another directory then you can uninstall the game and Rockstar's Launcher.

You will need the No CD patch for version 1.01 (its not tough to find.) The game will then run fine.

And if you want to use the Hot Coffee mod, or other mods even if its not needed then its recommend to downgrade the game to 1.00. Download link for the downgrader.

It will not be able to detect your game so click 'Browse' and locate where you copied SA to.

It will then scan your game files. (it might take a while.)

Once its done you can tick anything you want under 'Essential Modifications' though I recommend ASI Loader (needed for Silent Patch) and Silent Patch. The others are up to you. (You can hover over the blue text to get a description of each one.)

Once you are happy click 'Downgrade'. You will then be asked if you want to make a copy of the game, that's upto you. But it means that if you decide you want the original you don't have to re-download it via the Rockstar Launcher (just backup the folder you copied SA to as it will patch the version you will be asked to save. Though it will take up hard drive space.)

Should you click 'Yes' you will be asked where to save the downgraded version. I just created a called GTASA and put it there, feel free to put it anywhere you want. You will then be asked to confirm again after clicking 'Confirm'.


You will then be asked if you want to create registry entries such as the original CD version had. Its up to you but you generally want to click 'Yes' as they will be needed by some mods.

Depending on the options to chose you might get a few messages about PS2 blur, that's up to you if you want it or not.

Once its done you will then need to find a No CD 1.00 patch as the game will now not launch (as the No CD version was 1.01 and this will not work.) Whilst I can't link this all i'll say is GBW is where I got mine from. (You will want to replace the exe again.)

The game should now work, again and should work with any mods.

All of the above was done on Windows 10.