They say crime doesn't pay, and in GTA Online, it's definitely becoming a harder line of work. The latest update for Rockstar's MMO sandbox reduces the reward for almost every available big-time burglary, and the new one that's included won't be making up the difference for your bottom line.
The Kortz Center is the latest heist, where you have to break into an extremely well-to-do venue where the richest of the rich in Los Santos hang out, to access one of the greatest art collections in the world. This involves navigating "state-of-the-art defenses including first-rate security teams, watchful CCTV cameras, and intersecting laser tripwires," according to the official description, and how you manage to do so is up to you.
But whether or not you want to is another story, since the potential payout is $2 million, not a huge amount, and made even more disappointing by the fact many of the other heists have had their rewards reduced. The Diamond Casino's biggest prize is now $2.3 million, instead of $3 million, and the next lowest for that location is now $1.8 million, down from $2.6 million.
The Pink Diamond at Cayo Perico is worth $910,000 instead of $1.3 million, and on and on. Over 20 heists have been modified as such, and players are less than pleased. "Absolutely no one out here is gonna do Doomsday Act 3 for a million dollars," says one frustrated commenter on Reddit.
"Wtf are they doing," says another Redditor. "This will not encourage people to do these heists more. It does the opposite."
You do need to question the logic, since the nerfs are so widespread. Perhaps they're part of preparations for changes coming in November when GTA 6 finally comes out. Or, as one commenter suggests, they're actually satire about living in the current economic climate.
"Prices go up, paychecks go down. I thought a game would let us escape the world a bit," a Reddit user suggests, under a post where someone else says "they nerfed literally everything." This seems like more of an incidental bit of black comedy, if I'm being honest, and the real answer is within the minds of the Rockstar devs in charge of GTA Online.
