GTA 6's Soundtrack Is Already Off To A Bad Start Over Alleged Pay Dispute

As slowly gets closer to its planned 2025 release window, a few problems are already cropping up — one of them being a publicized pay dispute over soundtrack licensing. As has grown into one of the biggest franchises in the gaming industry, the expansive library of licensed music that populates the games' various radio stations has become one of its greatest strengths, with in particular boasting over 241 licensed tracks. As developer Rockstar looks to expand on the previous game for the Vice City-set , however, it's already run into a few problems.

As reported by, Martyn Ware (via X, formerly Twitter), a founding member of the band Heaven 17, has claimed that Rockstar Games had offered $7,500 for the inclusion of a song, «Temptation,» on the soundtrack, and "" — an offer which Ware, and Heaven 17, then rejected, with Ware comparing the offer to being paid in "."

In later posts, Ware clarified that the $7,500 offer was to all three members of the band, bringing it up to $22,500 total, that Rockstar refused further negotiations, and claimed that $75,000 would be a fairer deal.

While the news that Rockstar is looking to fully buy out songs for is good news for fans, as it means that the game can avoid the post-release music removal patches that hit both and, it's decidedly less welcome news that the studio is allegedly underpaying artists to do so. While the controversy over Heaven 17's rejection of the offer is unlikely to hurt significantly in the long run, other artists taking a similar stance as Ware could end up narrowing the amount of licensed music that gets included on 's radio stations at release.

Notably, however, Ware's later posts clarifying the exact amount offered and his hypothetical counter-offer have also drawn a significant amount of criticism, with some fans feeling that his initial claim of $7,500 was essentially a lie by omission, and that his proposed $75,000 offer is too high in light of how much other licensed music will be included in. is,