This episode was recorded a day or two prior to the big GTA 6 reveal on Netflix. While we were in two minds to take it live, re-listening to it shows a lot of what we discussed is still relevant despite what Rockstar and Take-Two would have you believe of its latest open-world crime simulator. From business strategy to leaks to pre-order forecasts and even developer comments from those at Rockstar India , we lay every element of the GTA 6 situation bare. Along with this we also discuss what to expect from the game itself, why it might not be all its hyped up to be, and how it would eventually fuel an industry that may just consume itself whole. Finally, we discuss the ongoing PlayStation blackout being organised by our friends over at Does It Play, what we’re playing this week, highlight some awesome Indies worth wish listing (Shutter Story and The Detective’s Apprentice), and a deep-dive into PlayStation’s India gift fiasco worth reading. Episode Timeline & Highlights 00:00:03 | Welcome & The PlayStation Blackout Week * 00:00:03 – Intro & Warm-up: Hosts Rishi Alwani and Rahul Majumdar welcome listeners to Episode 37. * 00:00:18 – The PlayStation Blackout: A brief update on the week-long boycott movement organized by the game preservationist group “Does It Play?”, where gamers globally are avoiding turning on or using PlayStation services and products. 00:00:33 | The GTA 6 Mega-Leak & Industry Fallout * 00:00:33 – Entering GTA Territory: Transitioning to the major topic of the week: the massive GTA 6 security leak. * 00:01:09 – Meet the Leaker: Introducing “Cyberleek”, the online persona behind the security breach. * 00:01:24 – 2022 vs. 2026 Leaks: Recalling the September 2022 Sunday afternoon leak that originated from Rockstar’s India office due to Slack-based social engineering. * 00:01:39 – Leaked Mechanics Breakdown: Analyzing the gameplay elements shown in the current leak, including gunplay, driving, a city tour, strip clubs, and a shooting-hoops focus-leveling mechanic. * 00:02:21 – Take-Two Silence & Xbox Support: Discussing the official silence from Take-Two and Rockstar, and reports that Xbox is actively assisting Rockstar in tracking the breach. * 00:02:51 – The Netflix Paywall Dilemma: Discussing the upcoming official 6-hour extended gameplay look paywalled behind Netflix. * 00:03:04 – Rahul’s Build Analysis: Contrasting the crude mesh maps of the 2022 build with this leaked developer build, which appears to be a polished, year-old dev kit closer to the final game. * 00:05:11 – Narrative Safeguards: Why major story details are still safe despite a few minor cutscene leaks (such as a character joking about avoiding the Feds with a VPN). * 00:05:53 – The Return-to-Office Irony: The hosts point out the irony of Rockstar ending remote work a year or two back and forcing employees back to offices to avoid leaks, only for this to occur anyway. * 00:06:36 – Pricing & Paywall Backlash: Discussing user frustration over rumoured $100 price points and locked marketing beats. * 00:07:13 – Watermarks & “Full Joker” Mode: Discussing the leaker’s crypto watermark and wallet details, including reports of him burning his own crypto coins “to send a message”. * 00:08:52 – OSINT Hunting & Toxic Discourse: Condemning internet sleuths who falsely blamed Rockstar India developers without proof, forcing many employees to lock down their personal social media. * 00:09:37 – Physical vs. Digital Breach: Comparing the Slack social engineering of 2022 with the potential of a physical security breach (such as a pen drive theft). * 00:11:43 – RDR2 Legacy in GTA 6: Spotting Red Dead Redemption 2’s design DNA in the leaks, specifically greeting and antagonizing NPCs. * 00:12:18 – Gradual WANTED Escalation: Exploring the non-binary, gradual escalation of wanted levels rather than a simple gamified response. * 00:12:37 – Manual Refueling Mechanics: Inspecting the leaked refueling mechanics and noting that they feel more “arcade-like” and less slow/self-indulgent than RDR2’s 1,500-year cabinet animations. * 00:14:10 – Developer Frustration & Schedule Realities: Referencing Jason Schreier’s reports that Rockstar devs are livid, alongside the revelation that the game was still in active development in August ahead of its planned November launch. * 00:15:03 – Crunch & Pre-Orders: Discussing the inevitable heavy crunch to hit release and the massive wave of pre-orders selling out physical “code in box” editions in regions like India. * 00:15:59 – Retail Strain & Gift Card Markups: Why Indian players are rushing to secure physical box copies due to PlayStation gift card scarcity and heavy retail markups. * 00:17:17 – Historical Leaker Tactics: Comparing this scenario to Valve’s classic “fake job trap” to capture the Half-Life 2 hacker, Assassin’s Creed Origins magazine leaks, and Titanfall 2 dress rehearsal slips. * 00:18:28 – The Great Community Split: Discussing the divisive community reactions—some being extremely vocal against Take-Two’s business practices, others showing support and empathy for the developers. * 00:19:36 – Empathy in an Artistic Medium: Rahul explains why players should show empathy to the individual artists, character designers, and environment designers who spend a decade of their lives on a game. * 00:21:21 – Targeting the Right People: Rishi stresses that player anger should not be directed at the developers, but at management and corporate greed (e.g., Strauss Zelnick and Andrew Wilson). * 00:21:28 – Outsourced India Crunch: Shading light on how major Western studios outsource their intensive crunch periods to offices like Rockstar India. * 00:22:45 – The Dev Toll: Rishi shares insights from speaking with Rockstar India staff after the 2022 leaks, recalling how depressed and disgusted they felt about their unready art being displayed publicly. * 00:23:49 – Pre-Order Projections: The hosts project that pre-orders will hit a billion dollars before official release, driven by marketing snowball effects. 00:25:23 | Indies to Wishlist This Week * 00:25:23 – Supporting Indian Devs: Introducing two promising indie titles currently on Steam. * 00:25:29 – Shutter Story: A paranormal horror experience where players examine realistic photo albums for clues while supernatural occurrences happen around them. * 00:25:54 – Detective’s Apprentice: A deduction-based adventure following Ace, an apprentice solving complex cases that local police cannot crack. 00:26:31 | What We’ve Been Playing * 00:26:31 – Weekly Gameplay Round-up: The hosts jump into their gameplay logs. * 00:26:43 – Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls: Rahul shares first impressions of Arc System Works’ new tag-team fighting game playing on a base PS5. * 00:27:50 – Striking Visuals & Campaign Presentation: Reviewing the manga-inspired character designs, right-to-left comic panel story mode, and highly polished 2D traditional anime cutscenes. * 00:29:00 – Tag-Team System & Combos: Evaluating the deep character combat mechanics, unified control setups (reminiscent of Marvel’s Avengers), and high skill ceilings of active character-switching combos. * 00:32:11 – Performance & DRM Woes: Detailing why the PS5 version runs smoothly while the official PC Steam release suffers from DRM performance issues. * 00:33:14 – Chibi Hub & Arcade Brawler Mode: Discussing the unique, interactive 3D lobby where players control chibi characters to gather resources and passive bonuses between matches. * 00:34:35 – Creative Team-Ups: Detailing the comic universe dynamics, such as Shuri stepping in as Black Panther, and unique squads like the Midnight Suns featuring Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Blade, and Loki. * 00:35:27 – Resonance First Impressions: Rahul reviews Asobo Studio’s third-person prequel/spin-off to A Plague Tale following the character Sophia 15 years prior. * 00:35:44 – Stealth to Action-Adventure: Detailing the shift from stealth to parry-heavy combat inspired by God of War, alongside environmental puzzles. * 00:36:44 – Greek Mythology & Setting: Navigating the Minotaur’s Island setting and its heavy mythological narrative beats. * 00:37:01 – AAA Polish & Venice Carnival: High praise for the cinematography, immaculate character models, and a gorgeous early mission set during the Venice Mask Carnival. * 00:38:03 – Dodging, Kicking & Momentum Skills: Spotting unique skill-tree traits like Sophia redirecting enemy momentum into other targets, shield-breaking kicks, and picking up throwables. * 00:40:07 – Asobo’s Polish Achievement: Expressing surprise at how clean the action combat feels from a studio primarily known for stealth games and flight simulators. * 00:41:16 – Rishi’s Xbox Gameplay Logs: Progressing through Control and Alan Wake 2 on the Xbox Series X. 00:41:44 | Shoutouts & Recommended Readings * 00:41:44 – India’s PlayStation Gift Card Crisis: Shoutout to Karan Pradhan’s in-depth story for Story Mode detailing the retail scarcity of PlayStation vouchers in India. * 00:42:13 – GTA Leak Recommendations: Directing listeners to check out reporting from Jason Schreier and Kotaku. * 00:42:32 – Sign-Off & Outro: The hosts wrap up Episode 37. This is the Day Zero podcast. Every week we break down the bytes and bits behind the decisions that make and break the world’s greatest entertainment industry. Have a request? Hot take? Insider tip? Reach us at the handles mentioned below: * Twitter/X - @rishialwani * Threads - @rishi.alwani * Instagram - @rishi.alwani * Twitter/X - @darthrahul * Threads - @darthrahul * Instagram - @darthrahul This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dayzeromedia.substack.com
