GTA Online Update flags players with high kill counts

If you're anything like us, experiencing a player-populated Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto Online is a double-edged sword due to free mode griefing by strangers. You tend to be wary of any approaching dots on your map.

Rockstar have come up with a solution of sorts as part of its High Life Update which rolls out today as a free download. Now player blips on the map will be colour-coded based on their actions, turning from white to red based on their kill count, with other player kills turning the dot to red quicker than if they'd downed NPCs. Notably, killing a fully-red dotted player won't affect your state at all.

This 'Mental State' stat will also factor into free mode matchmaking, as the system shunts you into a server with more 'like-minded' players.

It's a small but notable change that alongside giving you an early heads-up to incoming players, may end up become a sub-game in its own right - players focusing on hunting down psychotics as much as they did when bounties were placed on someone's head.

Also added with the Update is the option for Non-Contact Races, letting you concentrate on racing pure (though you can still hit NPC traffic), and the ability to own two apartments at one time.

There's also new vehicles, weapons and jobs added in as well: see the full content list here, and the full list of tweaks with the new Update here.