A founding member of British synth-pop band Heaven 17 has alleged Rockstar offered the three writers of hit song Temptation $7,500 each for its use in Grand Theft Auto 6 — a figure he has flat out rejected.
Martyn Ware, founding member of Heaven 17 and, before than, synth-pop pioneers The Human League, tweeted to tell Rockstar to “go f*** yourself” after allegedly receiving what he called a “extremely low” offer to use 80s classic 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,” Ware said.
“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*** yourself.”
IGN has asked Rockstar for comment.
Ware’s tweet includes a figure for money made by GTA 6, which obviously isn’t out yet. Predecessor GTA 5 is the second best-selling video game of all-time with an eye-watering 200 million sold, so perhaps the figure relates to an estimate of earnings from that game (Rockstar parent company Take-Two has not disclosed a GTA-specific revenue figure.)
Ware later tweeted to clarify that the $7,500 offer was $7,500 for each of Temptation’s three writers, which amounts to $22,500 total. “Still utterly unacceptable,” he added.
Either way, Ware’s point that GTA makes a huge amount of money and therefore the offer to use Temptation should be significantly higher is clear. And in subsequent tweets, despite many replies suggesting he should take the money and enjoy the “exposure” offered by having Temptation appear in what is likely the biggest video game of all time, Ware doubled down, saying: “For those claiming H17 should have accepted the extremely low offer for buyout for Temptation in GTA6 claiming ‘increased exposure’… An extra 1 million streams generates each writer a pitiful $1k each.”
Then, replying to another user who suggested $7,500 would be “better than nothing,” Ware said: “Get off your knees.”
Rockstar has a long-standing relationship with the music industry, and the soundtracks to its games are among the most popular in all video games. Indeed, the GTA games’ radio stations are often as memorable as the games themselves, providing as they do the backdrop to players’ antics with each new release. GTA 5 has hundreds of licensed songs that play out over its many in-game radio stations, and it’s likely GTA 6 will go even bigger in this regard. Having a song in GTA 6 will provide significant brand recognition, of course, but Ware’s tweets have sparked a discussion about whether $7,500 is enough for a single track’s inclusion in what may end up being the best-selling and most-played video game of all time.
It feels like an age since Rockstar broke the internet by releasing the debut trailer for GTA 6. Since the December 2023 release of GTA 6 Trailer 1, as it’s called, information-hungry fans have analyzed the trailer to within an inch of its life, coming up with all sorts of outlandish theories and predictions about what to expect when Rockstar finally releases the game next year. Set in modern-day Leonida, a fictionalized version of Florida, GTA 6 will let players control Lucia and an unnamed male that some fans speculate is named Jason.
Questions have swirled around GTA 6’s release date ever since the initial reveal, with fans going feral over details like website updates. Internal conflict over Rockstar’s return to office policy has led to questions over whether GTA 6 will ultimately be delayed into 2026. However, as of right now, it looks like Rockstar is determined to get GTA 6 out the door during its intended release window of fall 2025.
Photo by C Brandon/Redferns
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.