Spotify teases a GTA 6 collaboration — I hope Rockstar will finally let us use our own playlists, but people suspect it's something simpler

• New Spotify billboards hint at an upcoming collaboration with GTA 6
• Some believe the streamer is teasing new playlists inspired by new GTA 6 radio stations
• There's also the theory that Spotify integration is coming to the game, allowing you to stream your playlists in-game

There’s something cooking in the Spotify kitchen, and the music-streaming service is teasing some sort of involvement with GTA 6 and Rockstar Games — but it’s keeping its card very close to its chest.

Earlier this week, Spotify billboards started appearing across major US cities including New York, LA, and Miami featuring GTA 6 artwork and the Spotify logo (see below). The billboards follow Rockstar’s recent announcement of Grand Theft Auto 6: The Album, a limited-edition vinyl that has already sold out.

What this could mean still remains unclear, and Spotify has yet to tell us what it and Rockstar have in store — but there’s a handful of theories floating around.

Firstly, some users on Reddit believe the billboards are just an extension of Rockstar’s marketing push for the GTA 6 soundtrack.

Before the tracklist was unveiled, artists including Travis Scott, Pinkpantheress, Future, Morgan Wallen, and more teased their musical contributions by sharing GTA 6 artwork to social media, so some think Spotify’s cryptic billboards are simply a sign that the original songs will soon be able to stream on the platform.

The billboards have also fueled speculation that curated Spotify playlists based on GTA 6 radio stations are part of the soundtrack rollout, which seems like a natural way for Spotify to contribute to the launch of the game. But others are convinced the streamer’s involvement is much more than this.

For years, players have requested direct Spotify integration with GTA, which would allow users to link their accounts and stream their own playlists in-game instead of the radio stations. On paper it sounds like a desirable option, however there’s a lot of skepticism surrounding this.

GTA has gained notoriety for its curated radio stations. If anything, they’ve emerged as somewhat of a pop culture phenomenon outside the world of gaming — as one Redditor puts it, ‘the radio stations make the game’.

Not only this, but given the time, creativity, and money that Rockstar puts into developing GTA’s radio stations (because getting artists on board costs), I can see how music streaming integration could be placed on the back burner for now.

That said, I wouldn’t totally rule out the possibility of Spotify integration coming to future GTA gameplays. For now, however, the billboards remain ambiguous, so it’s pretty much a waiting game.

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