Last week's Grand Theft Auto 5 patch, which addressed a number of issues plaguing GTA Online (the multiplayer portion of the game), also contained a hidden "fix" that halved the payouts for repeat missions. Following player inquiries regarding the issue, Rockstar has finally admitted that the change "reduces payouts by 50% after a repeat of the mission."
"The first time you play and beat the mission, you will get the full amount. Subsequent replays will see a payout amount reduced by half," Rockstar explained in an update. "This is to keep the game balanced as well as encourage the exploration of new missions and content in the game.
"We understand players do like to enjoy a mission multiple times, so rather than remove the possibility of doing so, we've allowed replays of these missions at a reduced payout. Many players can get very good at a mission and beat it much faster in consecutive tries, so we've adjusted these payouts to match that case.
"This also ties in to our ongoing discussion of replay availability for NPC missions, in which we are taking community feedback as well."
On the plus side, Rockstar recently announced that all GTA Online players will be receiving $500,000 in-game cash to make up for hte launch issues. And if that's not enough, there's also the option to just pay real cash for in-game GTA$.