The internet hoaxer behind the recent Fallout 4 countdown timer has come clean and explained his motives in a Reddit AMA.
The countdown on thesurvivor2299.com has now been taken down, replaced with some sad piano music and the a message that starts "That's all folks".
He admitted in the Ask Me Anything that the stunt cost $990, and when the amount was highlighted the hoaxer responded: "That's nothing for me. I know I'm a douche."
He later said: "Some men just want to watch the world burn. I wanted to force Bethesda to reveal something during VGX/ on 12/11, and bring /r/Fallout community together (for at least 3 weeks). Unfortunately, this plan Failed."
DCHoaxer put a stop to the hoax after Bethesda got in touch, which dissuaded them from the next part of his plan, which was to release a CGI trailer: "I'm one of these 'selfish bastards with a lot of money' so I wanted to release a CGI trailer. But Pete [Hines] killed my plans. Maybe I'll release it later along with the script, so somebody else can use it... I don't wan't to piss off Bethesda at this time even more."
The hoax has obviously struck a nerve with gamers desperate for news on the still unannounced sequel from Bethesda. At the time of writing, DCHoaxer has received 14 death threats.
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