Rockstar Games' 2008 open world game, Grand Theft Auto 4, officially becomes available to play on Xbox One as a part of the console's backward compatibility program.

Without a doubt, there are many Grand Theft Auto 4 fans who have considered Rockstar Games' action-adventure sandbox title to be one of the top most-desired games for Xbox One backward compatibility for the longest time. Fortunately enough, it seems as if Microsoft has been paying close attention to fan requests, as the company has now officially revealed that the game can presently be played on the current generation platform thanks to the Xbox One's backward compatibility program.

As reported by GameSpot, this means that not only will fans of Rockstar Games' fourth entry in its ever-popular third-person shooter series be able to experience the base game on Xbox One, but also Grand Theft Auto 4's DLC packs The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony – both of which have been bundled together in the Episodes of Liberty DLC package in the past – will work on Xbox One as well. As it happens, there are a lot of folks who believe GTA 4's add-ons to be among the best video game DLC or expansions on the market, so their inclusion on Xbox One via backward compatibility ought to please fans immensely.

Those who currently own a digital copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 on Xbox 360 ought to see the game appear in the "Ready to Install" section of their Xbox One library, and fans who have purchased a physical iteration of the title will only have to insert the disc and download the game. Rockstar has also confirmed that save games from GTA 4 will carry over from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One if players have uploaded their save files to the cloud.

Naturally, this offer doesn't specifically apply to fans who currently have a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 on-hand, as players can still purchase the title digitally or buy a disc copy and experience it on Microsoft's current generation system. In fact, those who wish to take advantage of GTA 4 being added to the console's backward compatibility catalog can get the base game for $20 on the Xbox Store right now.

For those unaware, Grand Theft Auto 4 is only the latest addition to Xbox One's ever-growing list of backward compatible games, as it becomes available alongside more than 300 other titles in the catalog, including Rockstar Games' popular Western release, Red Dead Redemption. So, taking all of this into account, it's obvious that Microsoft's backward compatible feature for Xbox One has been incredibly well received by fans and critics alike. Interestingly enough, the component has been so popular, that it seems as if the company might be eyeing a version for PC, with Phil Spencer recently stating, "Never say never," when it comes to bringing backward compatibility to personal computers in some capacity.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is available now on PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One via the platform's backward compatibility program.