If everybody were as prolific as you were last year, we would exceed that capacity in a couple of years 
Speaking of closing⌠Do I understand correctly that there is no rule given for when you can start work on an entry?
You can start 4 years ahead of time. Letâs say that some of us do exactly that.
There is no rule like that because it would be crazy to try and enforce it.
Same as ludum dare, you can start creating some sprites or code some basics 10 years before the event. No one know and blame you.
My question wasnât if anyone would know or blame me, but if it is something we are supposed to do. 
Obviously I understand that it can not be enforced, but many (even most?) programming competitions still have some kind of start date, and you are supposed to not start any actual coding before that date.
Do people start WIP threads around here long before the deadline too?
It goes back to each personâs inner. Someone who has high taste of justice, love nature and animal (like me :P) will start in fair.
The rules should probably be edited to mention this fair start date if there is supposed to be one.
EDIT: Oh, Apple already confirmed there is no rule, even though I do not agree that the reason given is a good one. I think a better reason would be that we want more awesome games and that the competition is about coding small, not coding fast.
EDIT2: On the other hand I might need 10 months to recover from this before I can look at 4k code again.
I think the first post of this thread answers that question: http://www.java-gaming.org/topics/gentlemen/25188/view.html
Sequels (provided that they really are sequels, i.e. they add something significant) are surely acceptable, and imply reusing code from a previous year. Entries which werenât finished in time can be finished and submitted next year. I personally have a few games which Iâve started but not finished, and I intend to finish at least one of those for next yearâs contest.
The restriction in the 4K Contest ist the size of the output, not the development time.
Other competitions revolve around a time contraint.
Where others again revolve around a specific content/Theme.
Putting too many restrictions together makes the contest loose focus and put off people.
A âmake a 4k, 40x30 pixel EGA, Cowboys in Space game within 2 daysâ Contest would not have many contestants.
4k = less rules, more games
Simple main rule: make game under 4kb in pure java, no other restrictions.
This is what i love this competition.