A PROFIT sharing scheme has seen staff at a Leamington gaming company net bonus payouts totalling over £1million in just over one year.
The scheme at Kwalee began in October 2018 with the aim of rewarding staff for their part in the company’s successes.
One in ten employees have been able to double their salaries through the scheme in the past year, with others benefitting from significant quarterly payments
The scheme entitles all 73 employees to a base percentage of Kwalee’s overall profits offering the potential for staff to dwarf their base salaries with sizable sums paid every three months.
In addition to the base-level payout seen by all staff, employees who pitch ideas for games and develop titles that result in success for the company are eligible for an increased cut of all profits from those particular games – with no upper limit.
The firm run ‘Creative Wednesdays’ every week offering a platform for anyone in the company to pitch their own game ideas, regardless of their position or seniority within the company.
Successful games as a result include Draw It! which has to date received more than 70 million downloads worldwide.
Kwalee CEO David Darling is one of the best known names in the gaming industry having previously co-founded Codemasters.
Mr Darling explained: “All companies claim to value the ideas and creativity of their staff, but for us it was important to enshrine that in policy.
“Not only do we welcome game ideas from all corners of the company, but we actually rely on them to power our internal game development, so it’s only right that everyone has a stake in what they create.
“Beyond that, we feel it’s essential that all employees, from game development to administration, can share in the successes, as it’s not just about the money but creating a real ‘community’ feeling in the studio, where everyone, no matter the discipline, is working towards one shared goal.”
“One million in payouts is a great milestone in a short space of time, but we all hope we can reach two million even quicker!”
