Heaven 17 musician tells Rockstar Games to ‘go f*** yourself’ over GTA 6 royalty offer

GTA 6 – big budget but not necessarily for everyone (Rockstar Games)

Getting your song into GTA 6 may not be as lucrative as you’d expect, as it’s confirmed 80s classic Temptation won’t be in the game.

GTA 5 is estimated to have cost around $265 million to develop, which at the time made it by far the most expensive video game ever. Even now, 11 years later, only a few games – such as Spider-Man 2 – have exceeded it and yet there are rumours that GTA 6 will end up costing a staggering $2 billion.

That may not be true but it’s not especially surprising, given that GTA 5 made $1 billion in just its first three days on sale. Whatever the exact numbers involved, it’s clear that it’s a very expensive production – but that doesn’t mean developer Rockstar Games is being generous in paying the creators.

There’s previously been no clue as to how much it pays the various artists that appear on its in-game soundtrack but judging from an angry tweet from Heaven 17 member Martyn Ware it’s not very much.

Ware was, and occasionally still is, part of the synth-pop trio Heaven 17 and recounted on Twitter how he was approached by Rockstar about including their 1983 hit Temptation in GTA 6.

How much did Rockstar offer Heaven 17?

‘Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email,’ recounts Ware.

‘It was $7,500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever. To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 [he no doubt meant GTA 5 – GC] grossed, wait for it… $8.6 billion. Ah, but think of the exposure. Go f*** yourself.’

$7,500 is just over £5,700, but unless others speak up it’s impossible to know what Rockstar is paying other artists. It does suggest though that it’s probably next to nothing for the less well known ones, for who the exposure would be more useful.

Ware was clearly not the right person to approach though, as he points out that he’s been personally involved in artist rights advocacy for 20 years.

Ware revealed he suggested a $75,000 (£57,350) flat fee or a ‘reasonable’ royalty, but Rockstar refused.

When some suggested that the increased exposure would lead to earning more money via Spotify, as players looked up the song, Ware pointed out that a million additional streams would result only in a ‘pitiful’ $1,000 (£760) extra.

As always seems to happen – including with a GTA community figure at the weekend, claiming to know about a GTA 6 delay – instead of finding his insight interesting, gamers immediately started attacking Ware and calling him a fool for turning down the deal. At which point he stopped replying.

2002’s GTA: Vice City was acclaimed for its 80s soundtrack and there’s been some speculation as to how GTA 6, which has the same setting, will handle its music – considering it seems to be set in the present day.

Ware’s comments suggest that Rockstar is keen to include classic 80s tunes, although it’ll probably be limited to a specific retro radio station.

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