According to Martyn Ware, a founding member of Heaven 17, Rockstar Games has reportedly offered the band $7500 to use the band’s song ‘Temptation’ in Grand Theft Auto 6.
Ware recently made the claim on X (formerly Twitter), where he said, “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. Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…”
He continued, “IT WAS $7500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever… To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 [Ware meant Grand Theft Auto 5 here] grossed; wait for it… $8.6 BILLION Ah, but think of the exposure… Go fuck yourself.”
For those unsure of what exactly this entails, it would mean that Heaven 17 would permit Rockstar Games to use its song ‘Temptation’ in GTA 6 for $7500, but the band will not get any future royalties. It’d be a one-time payment, and that’s it. It’s likely that the use of the song would be for the radio stations in GTA 6.
Ware’s tweet has sparked some pretty lengthy online discussions on whether the sum is worth it. Reddit user /u/HomeInternational69 said, “Is this really that cheap? What’s a more fair price to pay? On top of the $7500, the artists are also getting their music exposed to a massive audience.”
Whereas Reddit user /u/-Aone said, “7.5k for “any future royalties… R* trying to do a daytime robbery”
Either way, Heaven 17 has seemingly made up their mind that $7500 is not enough to have its song featured in GTA 6, regardless of the potential exposure and whether or not such a sum is worth it is up to the artists themselves.
For more from Insider Gaming, check out the new images of Blizzard’s canceled survival game Odyssey, which have leaked online.