Stefan Vogler (R.) pays a total of 3.6 million euros in bonuses.
©Canva Pro, CipSoft GmbH
Stefan Vogler is the head of game developer Chipsoft in Regensburg. And Stephen Vogler is generous. The bonuses he gives to his employees puts most of the world’s companies in the shade.
Compared to German “built” car manufacturers: Opel pays a premium of 2,000 euros per year, Mercedes 7,300 euros, Porsche 10,000 euros or Ferrari 13,500 euros. At CipSoft, most of the approximately 100 employees receive full ten months’ salary as bonus. On average, this is 43,500 euros per software developer.
A quarter of the profit for bonus
CipSoft boss Vogler explains: “CipSoft gives its employees a quarter of its annual profit in the form of a bonus. Everyone who works for CipSoft for more than 2.5 years gets the full amount of the bonus.”
The successful game “Tibia”
CipSoft has made a profit of 22 percent in 2023 – 14.5 million euros. CipSoft’s most successful product is “Tibia”. “Tibia” has been around since 1997 with around 500,000 players, as well as the mobile version “TibiaME” with around 10 million players worldwide. “Tibia” is a fantasy world where players can kill monsters, upgrade their characters and fight each other. The “Tibia” style is reminiscent of 90s computer graphics.
Knights, Wizards, Monsters – “Tibia” (artwork) is a big hit for CipSoft.
©CipSoft GmbH
“With Tibia we are lucky to have a live service game with a very loyal community behind it, but over the last few years we have invested in the right places,” says Stefan Vogler happily. The economic climate is tough for many development studios right now.
