GTA 6 is beginning to grab headlines once again as Rockstar Games is seemingly trying to incorporate as many popular songs as possible in the upcoming title. However, there seems to have been a few hiccups. According to Martyn Ware, a founding member of English band Heaven 17, the video game publisher offered them $7500 to use their song Temptation in Grand Theft Auto 6.
In an X post shared on September 7, 2024, Ware claimed to have turned the offer down, stating:
“Grand Theft Auto 6 grossed, wait for it…$8.6 BILLION. Ah, but think of the exposure…Go f*** yourself”
Readers should note that Ware was referring to Grand Theft Auto 5 in his statement on X.
Rockstar Games' $7500 GTA 6 offer didn’t have any royalties included for Heaven 17, as per Martyn Ware
As seen above, Ware claimed that Rockstar Games wanted to use the band’s song Temptation in GTA 6:
“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”
The English musician recounted his excitement turning into despair as he scrolled through the offer:
“Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…”
Ware shared that the $7500 offer was a buyout for any royalties Heaven 17 would have received from its song being used in-game. This allegedly led to him rejecting the offer.
Ware's claim sparked lengthy discussions among GTA 6 fans, as can be seen below where a Redditor u/Turbostrider27 shared a post that garnered over 1k upvotes and 500+ comments as of writing.
Among the comments, u/ComradeCapitalist was glad that Rockstar Games learned from licensing issues that plagued previous Grand Theft Auto titles.
Readers should note that Rockstar Games has yet to address these claims.
Also Read: Ex-Rockstar dev doesn’t think GTA 6 will be "wildly different from GTA 5"