Percentage of Payout in Poker Stars

Of late, it appears like the overall average of payout per tourney is getting comparatively decreased than it previously used to be at Poker Stars. For instance, a few months before the average payout that was going out was likely between 13 to 16% of the number of people registered in the Poker Stars tournament.
For example, if 1500 players registered for the tourney then at least 210 to 225 places would be paid; however, of late, the overall average seems to have dropped from 11 to 12% per tournament. For instance if there were 1500 players registered for a tournament, there will be 170 to 175 places that will be paid out.
Though the number of players registering for the tournament is going up, the kind of pay out that is being given out seems to be considerably less.
But when we analyze it in depth, we might be able to see that Poker Stars have restructured the number of places they pay to something less, but they pay more money to the winners. They use the 20% rule on prize pool. The survivor is always benefited regardless of the highs and lows and there are lesser benefits to someone who performs comparatively less.