Justice scoring Grand Theft Auto VI is one of the best music stories of the year. It is also happening and confirmed. However, a rumor going around now claims the French duo were only Rockstar Games' second pick, with the studio first chasing Daft Punk for a final comeback on an unlimited budget.
On October 19, the music-leak account hasitleaked posted on X that Daft Punk's management was pitched a final comeback for the GTA 6 soundtrack with what it called essentially an unlimited budget. The same post said Justice were Rockstar's second choice. The account has a long record in Daft Punk and Justice leak circles and has made accurate calls before. Unfortunately, no one official has backed the story. Rockstar, Daft Punk's representatives and Justice have all said nothing.
What we do know is that Rockstar announced on October 15, alongside the launch trailer, that Justice composed the original score for GTA 6. The duo, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, are the act behind the game's score, debuting their new track "Flower in a Hurricane," a collaboration with Tame Impala, SZA and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. The same song also appears on the official 34-track GTA 6 album, due with the game on November 19.
In a neat twist, one half of Daft Punk is on that album too. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo produced Travis Scott's track "RHYNO."
What is confirmed and what is only rumored
Claim | Status |
|---|---|
Justice composed the GTA 6 original score | Confirmed by Rockstar on October 15 |
"Flower in a Hurricane" is on the trailer and the album | Confirmed |
Guy-Manuel of Daft Punk produced "RHYNO" on the album | Confirmed |
Daft Punk were pitched a "final comeback" first | Rumor from one leaker, unverified |
Justice were Rockstar's second choice | Rumor, unverified |
The Justice score is official. The Daft Punk story is a single unconfirmed claim.
With that said, it is easy to see why the story caught fire. Daft Punk defined the French Touch sound and turned it into a global phenomenon. Their anonymous robot personas, obsessive production and cinematic ambition would have slotted perfectly into Vice City. A Daft Punk return built as a final statement, tied to the biggest game of the decade and backed by an open checkbook, would have made for quite the comeback.
The problem is everything Daft Punk has said and done since. The duo is no longer together, splitting in February 2021 and they have not reunited since with no new music under the name. Thomas Bangalter repeatedly shut the door on a reunion, saying there are other things to explore. Guy-Manuel producing a single track on the album is a nod to the French electronic lineage, so a one-source claim that Rockstar nearly pulled off a full Daft Punk comeback, with no word from any of the parties, is exactly the kind of thing to treat as a rumor and nothing more.
None of this takes anything away from Justice. They have spent years as the heirs to Daft Punk, down to the shared history, Ed Banger founder Pedro Winter once managed Daft Punk before building Justice's career. Their electro-rock sound, aggressive and cinematic, fits the energy of the next Grand Theft Auto and their 2024 album Hyperdrama won a Grammy. They delivered both the trailer single and the full original score while Daft Punk sat out. The score is in strong hands, rumor or no rumor.
So enjoy the what-if, then set it aside. Justice scoring the biggest game of the decade, with a Daft Punk production credit sitting a few tracks away on the same album. You can hear all of it when GTA 6 arrives on November 19. For the full music rollout, our soundtrack tracker has every confirmed detail.