How one game developer is making The Pirate Bay work for him

This only works in a few specific cases that can get the massive numbers to donate (it's really just a numbers game).

In most cases, your game will be pirated and you won't make that much money. If you actually were able to sell something, you might be able to make enough to survive, which is a win-win for everyone.

If you truly want to battle piracy, make games that allow you to purchase in-game additions to help you along in the game. Fruit Ninja and Farmville both do this.

Donations have historically been a bad way to run a business. I'm not sure why people keep making the same mistakes in thinking that it's a good business model.