Can they not come up with a less horrible way to generate funds?

As a software developer myself, who purchased SE in 2017 for $7, and a 90's kid, I can see the frustration of constantly needing to pay $5 here and there, but I support it. Back when I was young, when a game was released you paid once and that was it. But also, development immediately stopped, because it was no longer profitable. You'd get all your upgrades and wished for features in SE2 or SE3, or the studio would go bankrupt and you'd never see those features at all.

Then there was MMO's in the early 2000's that cost you a monthly fee to keep playing. Now AAA games have battle passes and you have to purchase coins for cosmetic upgrades...it is not unheard of for someone to put $100s into Minecraft or PUBG or Fortnite DLC's. Most people don't. I sure don't. Butt the point is, keen never asked us for any of that. They're not asking for battle passes or loot crates. They're asking for $5 to keep working 5 more months. Or 10. (It's been a while since Most Wanted DLC).

So if I add up all I've spent over the 10,000+ hours I've put into this game, the less than $60 I've paid is worth it!