According to musician Martyn Ware, Rockstar Games recently approached them to put one of his songs in Grand Theft Auto 6. That said, the offer– $7,500 — left the musician, who turned down the offer, offended. In other words, don’t expect to hear Heaven 17 song, Temptation, when playing GTA 6 sometime next year.
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Ware shared word of the song request on social media platform X, where he expressed how appalled he was that a series like Grand Theft Auto, which prints money, was only offering $7,500 to use his song in GTA 6 with no royalties. Of course, there is no way to verify if this exchange actually happened, but there is also no reason to suspect Ware to randomly make this up.
“I was recently contacted by my publishers on behalf of Rockstar Games re the possibility of using Temptation on the new Grand Theft Auto 6,” reads the post in question. “Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer… IT WAS $7500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever…To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 grossed, wait for it… $8.6 BILLION. Ah, but think of the exposure…Go f**k yourself”
It is worth noting that Ware appears to mix up GTA 5 and GTA 6 here, but the sentiment remains the same. Meanwhile, if this account is true, it offers a great insight into the type of fees Rockstar Games is accumulating to put music in their games. Whether this is on the lower end or the high end of what it offers, we don’t know, but probably the lower end considering the popularity and relevancy of the song in 2024, as well as the measly fee.
For those unfamiliar with the song, Temptation is a Heaven 17 synth-pop song that debuted back in 1983, going certified silver with the BPI at the time and ranking as the 34th best-selling single in the UK that year. Meanwhile, on Spotify, the 41-year-old song has 25 million plays.
At the moment of publishing, Rockstar Games has not commented on the matter, if this changes — or if Ware provides a follow-up — we will be sure to update the story accordingly. In the meantime, for more Grand Theft Auto VI coverage, click here.
