Heaven 17 Front Man Martyn Ware Reveals He Rejected Rockstar Games’ $7500 Offer To Buyout The Band’s “Temptation” Song For Grand Theft Auto VI

Martyn Ware, the front man for English electropop band Heaven 17, revealed he rejected an offer from Rockstar Games to purchase the band’s song “Temptation” for $7500 without the possibility of royalties.

Ware posted to X, “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.”

He continued, “Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email re the offer…”

Martyn Ware on X

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Ware then revealed, “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**k yourself,” he concluded.

Martyn Ware on X

A remastered version of the song published back in 2017 has obtained over 838,000 views on YouTube.

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Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive has been bleeding cash and appears to be really counting on Grand Theft Auto VI being a massive success. In the company’s most recent financial report in August it shared that it suffered a net loss of $262 million for the most recent quarter despite having $1.22 billion in net bookings.

Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.’s First Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Despite the net loss, the company’s Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick stated, “We achieved solid first quarter results by engaging our players with exciting new game releases and content updates, while also
maintaining our focus on efficiency. Our management team remains confident in our path forward and we are reiterating our Net Bookings outlook for the year of $5.55 to $5.65 billion.”

He added, “We are highly optimistic about our future — our core franchises remain vibrant, our teams are hard at work on the most ambitious development pipeline in our history, and we are evaluating continually new growth opportunities that have the ability to enhance our business model and financial profile. As we pursue our strategic priorities, we expect to achieve sequential increases in Net Bookings in Fiscal 2026 and 2027, which we believe will drive long-term shareholder value.”

A screenshot from Grand Theft Auto VI (2025), Rockstar Games

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