GTA6 NOW » GTA 6 Criminal Profile and Heat explained

GTA 6 Criminal Profile and Heat explained

Official Grand Theft Auto VI cover art — Image: Rockstar Games.

GTA 6 tracks your face, clothes and car in a Criminal Profile, with a six-star wanted level, per Rob Nelson and IGN’s demo Reported. Rockstar has not published the full system Not confirmed. New here? Start here.

Reported
Six wanted stars, up from five.

Reported
Police learn your face, clothes and car.

Reported
Criminal Profile: a cousin of RDR2’s honour, not a good/evil bar.

Not confirmed
No Rockstar manual or HUD guide.

Criminal Profile

Reported It works like a cousin of Red Dead Redemption 2’s honour, not a simple good/evil meter (IGN demo).
Reported Patterns matter: consistently going beyond what a job needs, or small civic acts such as throwing away your own trash, shift how the world and the story react to you (IGN).
Reported Violence a mission forces on you does not necessarily move it.
Reported “There’s no right or wrong way to play,” but your actions change how the world reacts and how the story plays out; the player is less overpowered than in earlier games (Rob Nelson to IGN, 7 Oct).

Heat: how the police track you

Reported A wanted level starts when a crime is witnessed or an alarm goes off.
Reported Six stars. One is meant to be easy to drop; three and up are hard to lose in the dense city, where alleys on foot are your best escape.
Reported Icons under the stars show what the police know: your face, your clothes, your vehicle. Hollow stars mean they don’t know what you look like.
Reported Changing hair drops the appearance icon; glasses or a hat are not enough, you need a new outfit. A mask during the crime can stop an appearance report even on camera.
Reported Some high-end cars carry trackers that alert police; outrun the tracker or ditch the car.
Reported Wanted as a couple? Split up, send the other one away, and wait for the “coast is clear” text.
Reported Police can surround a store you are robbing, and some locations have alternate exits (Rob Nelson to IGN, 7 Oct).

What we don’t know yet

Not confirmed What a shattered profile changes.
Not confirmed Whether the profile can be repaired.
Not confirmed How Jason’s and Lucia’s profiles interact.

Quick answers

How many wanted stars does GTA 6 have?

Reported Six, according to Rob Nelson and IGN’s demo. Not confirmed Rockstar hasn’t published a HUD guide.

Do police remember you?

Reported Previews say police learn your face, clothes and car, so changing outfit and car helps you escape.

Wanted system · Phone and apps · Money and robberies · Gangs and factions

New guides: Can you go to jail in GTA 6? · GTA 6 vs RDR2 · Endings

Change log: desk notes, 14 October 2026

Desk stamp: 14 October 2026.
GTA 6 changes how the police find you and how the game remembers what kind of criminal you are.
Rockstar has not published a manual.
What follows comes from Rob Nelson, Rockstar North co-studio head, and from press who watched him play, so it is Reported until launch on 19 November.

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