Most ‘GTA 6 wanted system’ pages rewrite IGN once. This page is the HUD you can click, tied to timestamps on /trailer and to Map-6 geography. Source of truth: Rockstar’s An Extended Look (27 August 2026, official YouTube tJbzMqJGH4k). Secondary: named preview coverage (IGN, Rob Nelson quotes) labeled as preview, not Newswire.
Count the slots, not the vibes. At ~15:21 the meter sits against open sky with four stars lit and two dark — that is how you know the cap is six. Recaps that say ‘four-star chase’ are describing the current level, not the maximum. NOOSE-scale response language in press is about the top end, not a seventh star.
Hollow versus solid is the new grammar. A hollow star means the crime is on the radio and the description is not. Solid means they have eyes or a working description. The Look also shifts star colour after a line that they no longer have the vehicle — wanted persists, pursuit posture changes. We describe that as a state, not as a named mode Rockstar has not printed.
The intel row is why the system is interesting. Four icons are on screen in the chase: two heads (pair), a hanger (clothes), a bust (face), a car. They are right-aligned and reflow when one drops. Lucia leaving the car and the vehicle icon going out — stars still at four — is the teaching moment. Burning the old car ten seconds later does not by itself prove arson is a wanted tool; it is a thematic beat until Rockstar says otherwise.
Masks and the item wheel are how you starve the row. Face coverings go on before a robbery (~17:50). Weapons holster as you enter a store (~17:57). Preview interviews add CCTV as something police can hold. Map-6 marks CCTV as reported, not as a fifth counted glyph in that chase. Do not copy a five-icon infographic unless you watched five icons.
Jason and Lucia can split. Dual-lead switching mid-chase (~18:41) is the wanted-system implication: one body can carry the description while the other is clean. That is a systems sentence, not a ‘always split to cheese six stars’ guide. We will not publish a cheese table.
Where this sits on the map: the chase is Vice City / metro energy, not Keys, not Grassrivers. Use /map?loc=vice-city and the Extended Look rows on /trailer. Full systems recap: /guides/gta-6-extended-look-breakdown. We will revise this page if Rockstar posts a Newswire HUD explainer — we will not ‘complete’ the icon set from a leak build.
| Element | Status | What you can do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Six star slots | On screen in the Extended Look chase (~15:21) | Count them yourself against open sky |
| Hollow stars | On screen — crime known, no suspect description | Mask, change clothes, stay off camera |
| Solid white | On screen — active pursuit | Break line of sight; intel still matters |
| Colour shift (red) | On screen after ‘lost the vehicle’ radio | Wanted without current eyes — not a new max level |
| Pair / clothes / face / car icons | On screen; row reflows when one drops | Split up, re-dress, swap cars |
| CCTV as a fifth icon | Described in preview interviews, not a locked HUD glyph in that chase | Treat as likely, not counted |