Heaven 17 member reveals how much they were offered for GTA 6 song feature
Some have slammed developers Rockstar Games for not offering royalties
Producer and Heaven 17 member Martyn Ware has revealed how much he was offered by GTA 6 developers Rockstar Games for a buyout of one of the band’s tracks, Music Tech reports.
The games company offered to purchase Heaven 17’s hit 1983 single ‘Temptation’, which peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart after release.
“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 in a tweet earlier this week.
Read this next: Rockstar Games reveal GTA 6 details including price and release date
“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,” he said. “For a buyout of any future royalties from the game - forever.”
He noted that the last edition of Grand Theft Auto grossed an estimated $8.6 billion. “‘Ah, but think of the exposure…’, go fuck yourself,” he said.
While some have slammed the games company for not offering royalties to the band, others have called out his decision to turn down the offer.
“Biggest mistake of your life,” one person said in the comments. “You had a chance to be popular but you threw it away. If I were you I’d ask Rockstar to increase their offer a bit and take it.”
Read this next: GTA 6 trailer drops early after online leak, teases 2025 release date
Simon Raymonde of the Cocteau Twins also commented, asking Ware if he could “change his mind”. He wrote: “GTA had around 440 songs in the last game so really that fee for 1 (albeit brilliant) song is normal.”
“Might seem low but if they pay $7500 each then that’s 3.3 million on the music alone. The fee imho is irrelevant. 200 million people bought the last GTA and that’s a huge audience, the Shazam’s would be massive and the knock on effect to your streaming would be immense.”
GTA VI will land more than a decade after its prequel, Rockstar teased, following 2013’s much-loved GTA V. The next game in the series will drop in 2025.
[Via Music Tech]
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter