GTA 6 Criminal Profile: Professional, Psycho, Shattered

Criminal Profile tracks how you behave while committing crimes throughout GTA 6.

Rob Nelson compares it with Red Dead Redemption 2’s Honor system because both remember patterns over many hours. In GTA 6, the focus is on your behavior as a criminal: how much control you maintain, when you use violence and how far you choose to escalate a situation. Famitsu

The game already knows you’re a criminal. Criminal Profile tracks what kind of criminal you choose to be.

That history can change how the world responds and produce narrative consequences.

TGG’s creator preview adds several reported states for the system: Professional, Aggressive, Violent, Psycho and Shattered. Rockstar has not published that scale on an official page. TGG

Quick answer

Question	Answer
What is Criminal Profile?	A system tracking long-term criminal behavior
Is it similar to RDR2 Honor?	Yes, because it remembers behavior over time
Does all violence worsen the profile?	It has not been described that way
Does unnecessary violence matter?	Yes
Does context matter?	Yes
Can the world respond differently?	Yes
Can it affect the story?	Nelson says it can have narrative consequences
Are Professional, Aggressive, Violent and Psycho real states?	Reported by TGG
Is Shattered a real state?	Reported by TGG
Do Jason and Lucia have separate profiles?	Reported by TGG
Does Criminal Profile determine the ending?	Not confirmed
Is there a public points table?	No

How Criminal Profile works

GTA 6 already assumes Jason and Lucia are committing crimes.

Criminal Profile tracks how they carry them out.

Nelson told IGN that context matters. Violence required during a robbery, fight or mission may be treated differently from continuing to hurt someone after the threat has ended. IGN

Violence alone isn’t the whole question. What matters is when you need it and when you choose to escalate.

Relevant behavior can include:

controlling a situation and leaving;
defending yourself when someone fights back;
using force during a job;
continuing violence after the threat is neutralized;
repeatedly escalating encounters that could have ended earlier.

Rockstar has not published point values for any of those actions.

The system is built around patterns over time.

Rob Nelson’s jewelry-store example

Nelson uses a jewelry robbery to explain the idea.

Violence may happen during the job.

If you control the situation, complete the robbery and leave, Criminal Profile can still read that behavior as relatively professional.

If the threat is over and you continue escalating the encounter, your profile can move in another direction and the world may respond differently. IGN

The crime itself has not changed.

Your conduct during it has.

Is Criminal Profile GTA 6’s Honor system?

That is the comparison Rob Nelson uses.

Both systems remember behavior across a large part of the game.

The Honor comparison is about long-term memory. Criminal Profile focuses on how you operate as a criminal.

Criminal Profile follows how Jason or Lucia operate during criminal activity: control, excess, aggression and escalation.

Nelson also says Rockstar wants to support different styles of play rather than designate one as the correct way to experience GTA 6.

Professional, Aggressive, Violent, Psycho and Shattered

TGG reported these names after a creator preview at Rockstar North. TGG

Rockstar has not published the states, their thresholds or an official score.

State	What we know
Professional	More controlled and restrained criminal behavior
Aggressive	Reported state moving toward greater aggression
Violent	Reported state associated with further escalation
Psycho	Reported violent extreme within the normal progression
Shattered	Reported extreme state that becomes locked for that playthrough

What Professional means

Professional describes a more controlled approach.

You can still rob, fight and use violence when a situation requires it. The distinction comes from avoiding unnecessary escalation.

Rockstar has not published a list of actions that add or remove Professional points.

What Psycho means

Psycho is the most extreme reported state within the normal progression.

TGG connects it with a sustained pattern of excessive violence.

We do not know how many actions, how much time or what threshold is required to reach it.

What Shattered means

TGG also describes an additional state called Shattered.

According to that preview, taking extreme behavior far enough can break the Criminal Profile icon and lock the state for the rest of that playthrough.

Rockstar has not directly explained Shattered or publicly documented its permanence rules.

Jason and Lucia can have separate profiles

TGG reports that each protagonist keeps an individual Criminal Profile. TGG

That could allow the same save to contain:

Jason → Professional

Lucia → Violent

This detail comes from creator-preview reporting and still lacks direct Rockstar documentation.

Rockstar has also not explained whether the two profiles interact.

How to switch between Jason and Lucia in GTA 6

How the world can respond

Nelson says increasingly aggressive behavior can produce more aggressive responses from the world.

NPCs can also:

resist;
carry weapons;
refuse demands;
respond with violence. Famitsu

We do not yet know how those reactions connect to individual Criminal Profile states.

There is no basis, for example, to claim that reaching Psycho makes every NPC attack sooner.

What is supported is that the player’s accumulated behavior can affect how the world responds.

Does Criminal Profile change the story?

It can have narrative consequences.

Nelson has discussed effects involving:

characters;
world reactions;
certain story elements. Famitsu

He has also said that different playstyles can cause players to see or miss different things.

Rockstar has not explained the exact content yet.

It is not confirmed that Criminal Profile changes:

the ending;
main missions;
side missions;
character deaths;
romances;
rewards;
trophies;
100% completion requirements.

Criminal Profile vs Wanted Stars and Heat

All three systems can react to the same crime while remembering different things.

System	What it represents
Wanted Stars	Current police pressure
Heat	What police know about you and where they are searching
Criminal Profile	Your accumulated criminal behavior

Heat asks what police are looking for now. Criminal Profile remembers how you’ve been behaving for hours.

For example:

you rob a store → a witness reports you → Wanted / Heat

During the same robbery:

you control the situation or keep escalating after force is no longer necessary → Criminal Profile

One incident can therefore feed several systems for different reasons.

GTA 6 Police and Wanted System

Does killing always worsen Criminal Profile?

No public rule says that it does.

Nelson distinguishes violence required by the situation from excessive violence.

Rockstar has not published values such as:

civilian killed = -10

police officer killed = -20

enemy spared = +5

There is no public scoring table.

Can you repair a damaged Criminal Profile?

The complete rules are still unknown.

TGG describes states that can change during the game and an extreme Shattered state that would become permanent.

We still need to learn:

how quickly the profile changes;
which actions can improve it;
how far it can be reversed;
how much previous behavior matters;
what exactly triggers Shattered.

What still needs confirmation

Rockstar has not detailed:

internal scoring;
thresholds between states;
the complete list of relevant actions;
rate of change;
recovery rules;
full Shattered rules;
exact NPC and dialogue differences;
changes to encounters or missions;
specific narrative consequences;
ending consequences;
100% completion effects;
interaction between Jason and Lucia’s profiles.

Frequently asked questions

What is Criminal Profile in GTA 6?

It is a system that remembers how you behave during crimes and builds a long-term criminal profile across the playthrough.

Is Criminal Profile like RDR2 Honor?

Rob Nelson uses the comparison because both remember behavior over time. Criminal Profile focuses on how you conduct criminal activity and how far you escalate violence.

Does all violence worsen Criminal Profile?

It has not been described that way. Nelson distinguishes necessary violence from excessive or gratuitous violence.

What does Professional mean?

A more controlled and restrained criminal style with less unnecessary violence.

Are Aggressive, Violent and Psycho real states?

TGG reported those states after a Rockstar North preview. Rockstar has not published an official state table.

What is Shattered?

A reported extreme state in which Criminal Profile becomes locked for the rest of that playthrough.

Do Jason and Lucia have separate Criminal Profiles?

TGG reports separate profiles for both protagonists.

Does Criminal Profile change GTA 6’s ending?

That has not been confirmed. Rockstar has discussed consequences for the world and certain narrative elements.

Is Criminal Profile the same as Heat?

No. Heat belongs to the immediate police search. Criminal Profile tracks your behavior over the long term.

More GTA 6 guides

GTA 6 Police and Heat

GTA 6 Gameplay

GTA 6 Car Theft

GTA 6 Money and Economy

Sources

Famitsu — direct Rob Nelson interview covering Criminal Profile, violence, consequences and the Honor comparison

IGN — Rob Nelson interview covering necessary violence, escalation and persistent consequences

TGG — Rockstar North creator preview covering Professional, Aggressive, Violent, Psycho, Shattered and separate profiles

State names originating from creator-preview reporting remain labeled accordingly. Rockstar has not published scores, thresholds or specific narrative consequences.

Last verified: October 5, 2026.

GTA 6 Criminal Profile: Professional, Psycho, Shattered and Consequences