GTA IV now runs natively on Android via an Xbox 360 recompilation
Liberty Recompiled turns GTA IV’s Xbox 360 code into a native program, and an Android port already runs it at 30 fps on a handheld. What it is and what you need.
GTA IV is one of the hardest GTA games to play today: it never got an official PS5 or Xbox Series release, and beyond Xbox backward compatibility and its PC version, it's stuck in 2008. That's what makes October 8, 2026 notable: the first public build of a native Android port arrived, based on Liberty Recompiled, a project that turns the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV into a modern program through static recompilation.
What Liberty Recompiled is
It's the same technique that already brought Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories to PC, now applied to the Xbox 360 release. Instead of emulating the console, the game's code, written for its PowerPC processor, is translated into C++ and compiled into a regular program, with its graphics shaders converted as well.
The main project started in December 2025, is built on ReXGlue tooling and aims for Windows, Linux and macOS. It's still at a very early stage, and its own page warns that it's not meant for public use, but it already has an installer, save support, audio, controls, FusionFix-compatible mod loading and even peer-to-peer multiplayer.
In August, a Brazilian modder announced a parallel effort using the same tooling, with plans to release the source so others could take it to Android, Switch and beyond.
The Android port
October's news is LibertyRecompAndroid by vaduur, which adapts Liberty Recompiled to Android phones and handhelds. According to its page, on a Retroid Pocket 5 the game:
- Installs, boots and plays, covering the intro, early story missions, free roam and driving.
- Runs at 720p with FXAA and a locked 30 fps most of the time, dipping to 25–29 in the heaviest views.
- Keeps the console's draw distance and shadows, but cuts traffic and pedestrians to 40% to ease the CPU.
- Retains the radio, cutscenes and videos.
There are big caveats. It's only been thoroughly tested on that one device, it needs a Snapdragon Adreno GPU (Mali support is experimental), it still crashes occasionally, and the Liberty City episodes and online play haven't been tested. Its author also openly admits that the code was written by AI and takes no responsibility for its stability.
What you'll need
Neither Liberty Recompiled nor the Android port includes anything from Rockstar. You need your own copy of GTA IV for Xbox 360 (the US disc) and its Title Update 8, extracted yourself. GTA House doesn't link to downloads.
Why it matters
GTA IV is Rockstar's great forgotten game. It has lost songs to expired licenses, its PC version has always had issues, and the only comfortable way to play it on a console is Xbox backward compatibility. A re-release has been rumored for years, and the acquisition of Rockstar Australia, the studio behind the Trilogy upgrades, has fueled that talk, but Rockstar hasn't announced anything.
There's an obvious shadow, too: Rockstar's mod guidelines, published in September, ban bringing its games to platforms it hasn't released them on, and Android is exactly that.
Our take
Technically, seeing a 2008 game this size running natively on an Android handheld is fascinating, even if for now it's more proof of concept than a comfortable way to play. The bigger story is the project underneath: if Liberty Recompiled matures, GTA IV could end up running well on almost any device. Whether Rockstar allows it is another matter.
