Rockstar asked Daft Punk to return for GTA 6 – the French duo were offered an unlimited budget

Every breakup has a price, it just usually goes unspoken. When the game in question is the most anticipated release of the decade, you may not even need to name it – just hand over a blank check. That appears to be what Rockstar did in an attempt to revive a duo that buried itself, very beautifully, five years ago.

According to the insider account hasitleaked, Daft Punk management was pitched "a final comeback" of the duo for the GTA 6 soundtrack, with what was "essentially an unlimited budget".

Rockstar reportedly considered the French duo Justice as its second choice, and Justice ended up being the group chosen to work on the soundtrack.

Going after Daft Punk makes sense, even if it sounds completely insane. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo announced their split on February 22, 2021, with a video called "Epilogue" that shows one of the robots blowing up in the middle of the desert. The finale was so theatrical that it's hard to imagine a more fitting gesture. In 2023, Bangalter said in an interview that, as much as he loves the robot persona, being a robot is the last thing he'd want in today's world. Management, meanwhile, is still around and continues to look after the band's legacy, including the anniversary reissue of Random Access Memories.

The backup pick says a lot too. Justice came up on Ed Banger Records, a label founded by Pedro Winter, a former Daft Punk manager. In other words, Rockstar was essentially shopping within the same French electronic family. The duo's current standing fits the bill as well: the 2024 album Hyperdrama earned Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album.

Big musical bets have long been a Rockstar tradition. GTA 5 gave Flying Lotus and Soulwax their own radio stations, and Dr. Dre recorded new tracks for The Contract update in GTA Online. The studio picks music for GTA 6 with precision, too: the first trailer used "Love Is a Long Road" by Tom Petty, and the second used "Hot Together" by The Pointer Sisters. With neon-soaked Vice City as a backdrop and a release set for November 19, 2026, an exclusive Daft Punk track would have been the cherry on top.

Neither the studio nor the musicians' representatives have commented, so for now this is a leak, not a confirmed fact. The source has some credibility, but it isn't tied to the video game industry.