tl;dr waaaaaay below.
I'm patiently waiting for the release of the next update, like I always have done. Sure, I can't wait (figuratively) but I have too much respect for the process to understand how people can be so enraged and obtuse.
The team earns 52.000 dollars a month (according to posts above). That looks a like a lot of money, but so many people see this number and just think one person gets it, or it entitles them to rage against everything.
But let's take a more rational approach at this budget, shall we, and pretend that Kompas Productions is a business (which it is)?
Disclaimer: I'm no expert, but I'm trying to look at the budget rationally. I've worked from home for six years, having to manage costs for my own utilities and office supplies, so I know a little bit about these costs at least.
Also I would like to state that the costs I present are either an acceptable minimum (like 80 dollars for an office chair, and 500 dollars for a laptop). The actual costs for a company are likely to be much higher. Food is also calculated at a minimum, and so are utilities. Taxes are only calculated for persons, not for the company itself. Meaning that the number people take home in these calculations is most likely too high (that is, people probably take home less than described here).
Lastly, I've calculated in the way that each employee gets exactly the same amount of money.
How much does Kompas actually get from Patreon?
Patreon takes a 5% cut of the $52000, so that means that (52000 - 2600), 49400 is left
There are 7 people on the team according to the official Summertime Saga page. So that would leave 7057 dollars per person, per month. That's quite a bit of money, but Kompas' employees can't just run about and buy jetskis from that money. Let's see where that money actually goes.
Financial security
Any company that wants to exist further than the project it is currently working on, reserves some of its left-over revenue for later. If Kompas sets aside 10000 dollars a month, it would mean that after two years of saving (=240,000 dollars) they could exist for nearly 5 months (240,000 dollars, using 50,000 dollars a month like they do now). So, setting aside 10,000 dollars a month is not a luxury but a financial safe-guard, incase the company hits a dry spell, all the backers stop paying, or anything else happens unexpectedly that puts them in a financial bind.
Again, this is a minimum of a safe guard (see incalculable costs).
Home office
That would leave 39400 to divide over Kompas' employees. But wait, there is more. We have to consider fair payment of office supplies. Yes, you personally own a computer. Yes, you pay electricity anyway. But what you might not realise is that if you go to an office building to work, these matters are paid for you. That screen that gets replaced every two years? That new desk you get? That office chair? All stuff you need to calculate into your economic model if you work from home. Naturally, you don't need a new office chair every month, and neither do you need a new desktop or laptop, so these costs are divided by 24 months, which is a normal corporate write-off. After this, these supplies are deemed worthless.
Office supplies and utilites:
- Office chair, 80 dollars / 24 = 3.33
- Laptop (basic), 500 dollars /24 = 20.83
- Desk, 100 dollars /24 = 4.16
- Utilities, 150 dollars a month (an average month of utilities is 100 dollars if at home. Considering you spend 8 hours at work, actively using electricity, heating, and water, this is not a high number. Also included in this is the breaking of lightbulbs, cables, etc.)
- Internet subscription, 50 dollars
Total = 228.32
However, this is per person, so the total write-off per month is 228.32*7 = 1598,24
Leaving us with 39400-1598 = 37800
Again, this is considering the minimum. This is about the cheapest office chair and desk from your local Ikea, a budget segment laptop, etc. It also doesn't include a mouse, drawing tablet, keyboard, lamps, paper, pens, etc. etc. While technically you could make due with the noted above, it's really not a comfortable work space.
Considering a company can dodge VAT, you'd have to add 50% to all prices to be at a comfortable place (for example a 1000 dollar laptop, retail value).
Death and Taxes
So, that leaves 5400 dollars per person, per month, which comes down to 64800 per year, per person. After taxes, that leaves roughly 52,000 dollars, which means they have 4300 dollars a month to spend.
As put in the disclaimer, the number per person per month, is calculated without first calculating corporate taxes. The actual number any employee takes home is much likely lower (see below).
Incalculable costs
I'm sure I missed a lot, and again, I'm no expert. 4300 dollars a month might seem a lot of money (and it is, to a lot of people, yours truly included), but what I haven't written about yet, and what cannot be calculated in terms of money, is the risk involved. Each project that takes a considerable time of one's life, without financial guarantee, must be accounted for with a higher financial return. Kompas needs a lot of cashflow to sustain itself, for a number of good reasons.
We also haven't discussed potential growth (new employees, centralised office, servers, etc.), sick leave, pension plans, etc. Then there are the future projects, which might need a jump start before additional investors can be found, and of course the number of hours Kompas actually worked without getting a single cent. Don't forget, Summertime Saga didn't always get 52000 dollars on Patreon a month. I'm sure that, for a long time, before Kompas was on Patreon, it already existed in some form, and consumed a lot of time or energy. Sure, this might have been a hobby, but it's really not a bad thing to get paid for it in the end.
Addition and criticisms welcome
Please, take all of this, read it through, correct it, add stuff, and reupload it yourself.
Final thoughts
What I have calculated here is what I believe is the minimum Kompas needs to run the company proficiently, in the most minimalist way. The office supplies used make for an uncomfortable setting. The safeguard in place is severely lacking. There is no plan in case of illness, no pension plan, no insurances. Take this into account too!
Personally, I think that whatever Kompas is making, they deserve. So far, they haven't hidden any content of the game behind a paywall, and let those who can't afford it, or don't want to, play the game for free. The backers make this possible, and for that I am thankful. It's also a choice by Kompas, and a sign of trust in its fan base. I'm sure that such a thing is not easy to do, because you have a more direct dependancy on your followers.
I wrote all of this because I'm growing more and more tired of the way this discussion loses all substance. There are people that think Kompas is getting way too much money, and all they do is yell that people should stop paying. The other side argues against them sometimes, or asks them to stop visiting the forum if they don't care. Why the former do keep yelling that everyone should stop paying still baffles me.
I hope this discussion can remain civil, and grounded in arguments. I'm open to critique (if substantiated by good arguments), and am willing to adjust my view. The view I won't adjust is that I have thoroughly enjoyed Summertime Saga so far, am thankful for all the time and effort its many creators put into it, and that they, in my opinion, deserve every penny they have gotten for it so far.
Thanks for reading!
tl;dr: Does Kompas get a lot of money? Yes, but probably way less than you think because running a company costs money, and they deserve it in my opinion.
