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Comment by k-mcgrady | Hacker News Reader

I've seen a lot of people comment that he's giving up $50,000 per day. As so many people already have the app (and it's not being deleted from their devices remotely) isn't he still going to be receiving that ad revenue, it just won't be increasing anymore? A cynic might say he announced the 24 hour deletion to get as many people as he could to download it, because even after it was deleted they would be playing the game and he would be earning.

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I was thinking the same thing. In a way it might even extend the lifetime of the fad, instead of starting to die out this being spread over the news gives a fresh impulse to make people show the game to others. The 24 hour window adds another element to talk about. People telling eachother "You can only get it the next few hours". Followed by people checking if it is really gone, and (hopefully) playing the game again, or lending their phones to others who didn't get it.

If he really wanted it all to stop he could just update it to remove the ads en delete it after. Without announcing it on twitter.

Not that I blame him, he got lucky and if these are all marketing moves, well, good job :)

I don't think they are marketing moves...

I don't think they are marketing moves either. But I think the reasoning is right, he did consider the money he will still earn in his decision.

By the end, I guess he would make more money keeping it on the store (hard to find a math where this 24 hours peek would pay off a few more months of declining downloads).

So I guess he did some math and thought "I already have my FU money, so FU fame!" :D

So the choice is about preferring $2 million and peace of mind, instead of $5 million and people annoying him 24/7. Not the "I give up of all the money for the JD Salinger's lifestyle" as the press is framing this.

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