According to the article $24K-per-year was his starting salary, which is what he would have earned developing his first and most successful game Yar's Revenge.

According to the article $24K-per-year was his starting salary, which is what he would have earned developing his first and most successful game Yar's Revenge. Also according to the article the success of Yar's Revenge made him a company rock star that was earning over a million a year. So to answer your question we should expect a lot from a $24k programmer and less from a $1M programmer.