That's $72k a year, which sounds like a full-time employee somewhere outside of silicon valley. In addition, you don't generally pay contractors a fixed amount per month, but rather per hour. Note how the example of Sarah the contractor has the pay rate set at $20 per hour. Also, further on down, it explicitly says the game designer is being paid a salary, which is something that employees, not contractors, get.
This is what origin say in the article, it sounds to me really not like a full time employee.