Back in July, Rockstar flew a group of press outlets and content creators out to Rockstar North for early, sanctioned hands-on previews of GTA VI - material that mostly stayed under wraps until Rockstar's own Extended Look went public on August 27. Some of those same creators, YouTuber TGG among them, have since posted much more detailed breakdowns of specific systems than what showed up in the official trailer, and outlets have started compiling them into a fuller picture of how the game actually plays.
The wanted-star system is getting a real overhaul. Police and enemies have been removed from the minimap entirely - players now rely on a Focus ability to sense nearby threats instead. More importantly, a new Heat layer tracks exactly what evidence the police actually have: whether they've got CCTV footage, a description of your clothes, your weapon, or your getaway vehicle. Each piece can be dealt with individually - destroy the footage, change outfits, ditch the car, even split Jason and Lucia up to shed a star. Star appearance now carries real information too: a solid star means police have eyes on you, a flashing one means you've broken line of sight, a hollow star means a crime's been reported with no description attached, and a red star means you've technically slipped away but are still inside the search zone. Only at the highest wanted level does the search expand to the whole map. Previewers reportedly watched one staged robbery go sideways in real time - the developer knocked out a clerk and destroyed the camera footage, only for someone else to have already phoned it in, forcing a retreat before police even arrived.
Vehicles now need fuel, refilled at gas stations, though Rockstar has said the intent is for it to matter mainly when you grab a random car mid-getaway without checking the tank - not to interrupt everyday driving. The driving model itself has been rebuilt, aiming for something between GTA IV's weightiness and GTA V's easier handling, with individual cars behaving differently based on drivetrain, tires and suspension. Car theft now has real tiers to it: some vehicles can be smash-and-hotwired, pricier ones need specialized tools unlocked by working with in-game fences, and a phone app lets players scan a parked car's security level and resale value before deciding whether it's worth stealing. Higher-end trackers even have their own tell - they stay quiet at speed but start beeping if you slow down.
Rockstar is also introducing something called a Criminal Profile - and has specifically said it isn't a returning version of Red Dead Redemption 2's Honor system. Rather than a sliding scale, it's built around named tiers, starting at Professional and escalating through more violent classifications, with one especially severe state reportedly locking in for the rest of that playthrough once reached. Jason and Lucia each track their own profile separately, so one partner going in guns-blazing doesn't automatically brand the other the same way.
This traces back to Rockstar-sanctioned press previews, relayed through the creators who attended rather than an official Rockstar post, so it's tagged confirmed with that caveat in mind. Reporting via VICE (Brent Koepp), citing YouTuber TGG and French outlet TroisCouleurs.