GTA Online Payphone Hits ‘Nerf’ Actually Lets You Make Way More Money

Highlights

• Rockstar has made changes to Payphone Hits in Grand Theft Auto Online, allowing players to earn more money.
• The cooldown for Payphone Hits has been reduced from 48 minutes to just 10 minutes, and the Assassination Bonuses now pay out $30,000 for Leaders and $10,000 for Associates.
• While some players are happy with the increased earnings, others feel that the changes incentivize grinding and negatively impact their overall gameplay experience.

One controversial change introduced by Rockstar in Grand Theft Auto Online’s first weekly update of 2024 allows players to earn more money on Payphone Hits. The change involves decreasing the cooldown for Payphone Hits, as well as their monetary rewards. However, since Payphone Hits can now be attempted more often, it turns out that Grand Theft Auto Online players can actually earn even more money from them than they could before.

Payphone Hits are short assassination missions in GTA Online’s Free Mode which are reminiscent of the assassination investment jobs given by Lester in the title’s story mode. The Payphone Hits were first made available to play once Grand Theft Auto Online’s The Contract update was released back at the end of 2021. Since then, Payphone Hits have become a favorite activity among players thanks to their diversity and generous rewards. Following GTA Online’s update for the week of January 4, 2024, numerous gamers are debating whether the alterations made by Rockstar to the Payphone Hits are positive or not.

Twitter user TezFunz2 highlighted the fact that the cooldown interval between each Payphone Hit has been significantly decreased from 48 to just 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the Assassination Bonus now pays out $30k and $10k for Leaders and Associates respectively, down from $70k for Leaders and $30k for Associates. The normal Payphone Hit rewards remain unchanged at $15k per mission. The good news for GTA Online players is that they can now earn up to $180k every 40 minutes instead of $85k if they manage to successfully complete 4 Payphone Hits including their bonus objectives.

Payphone Hits Changes

• Cooldown reduced from 48 minutes to 10 minutes.
• Assassination bonuses are now $30,000 for Leaders and $10,000 for Associates instead of $70,000 for Leaders and $30,000 for Associates.

That being said, there are a lot of disappointed Grand Theft Auto Online players who think the recent change made to the Payphone Hits is a negative one. While the compensations are greater than before, gamers now have to complete more of the missions as well, leaving many to believe that this modification incentivizes grinding. After all, some players strategically chose to complete the Payphone Hits in between the more important activities such as GTA Online‘s famous challenging Heists, and it is easy to see how the update negatively affects their gameplay experience.

The Chop Shop Park Ranger Week update also added additional new interesting content to Grand Theft Auto Online like the imposing Declasse Park Ranger vehicle and a Wildlife Photography Challenge exclusive for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, where players have to photograph three different animals per day in exchange for rewards. It will be interesting to see whether GTA Online’s newly updated Payphone Hits proves to be a hit with the majority of fans.