I will be very surprise if they aren't getting 100k or more yearly.
If Stardock pays that much I would be extremely interested in a position writing client/server code. According to the latest Game Developer Salary Survey, this is not the case. Since these individuals are not entirely game developers it's possible they fall under system architects and software engineers, or quality assurance, that doesn't get the salary anywhere close to what the average is.
Source: http://www.seriousgamessource.com/item.php?story=23264
"average American game industry salary in 2008 of $79,000, a 7% increase from 2007’s figure of nearly $74,000."
Programming: programmers are the highest paid talent next to high-end businesspeople, with an average annual salary of $85,024. Experience pays in this role, as those with greater than six years of experience earned 26% more than the average annual salary.
Art & Animation: artists – averaging a $69,532 salary, nonetheless, 28% of art directors reported lower salaries than the previous year. But these more experienced, higher status artists also tend to earn at least 35% more than those with less experience and lower title.
Game Design: averaging $67,379, design positions sprouted an average $3,730 over last year.
Production: of all the game development disciplines, production – with a salary average overall of $82,905 – is the most welcoming to women, with 21% of the workforce made up of females – more than twice the industry average.
Quality Assurance: testers with less than three years experience make up the largest percentage of this segment – 46%. Quality assurance is the lowest paid of the game development disciplines, averaging $39,571 – almost flat to 2007
Audio: sound designers as a group earned 6% more than they did in 2007, up $4,758 on average over last year to $78,167. 74% of audio developers reported that their salaries increased over 2007.
Business & Marketing: the business field as a whole remains the highest compensated group in game development - with an average salary of $102,143 - and also receives the highest amount of additional compensation.
So before assuming they are paid well because they work hard, realize that these individuals have to have extensive experience to get what you feel they deserve to be making. Many of them will work for less because they'd rather do something they enjoy than do something they don't and get paid more. It's a rough industry with a high turnover rate. For these people to be there 9 years is credit to them. Though if they were exclusively a game publisher the odds of them existing that long is a lot less likely.
