Well, the fractal explorer and chaos pro are "free" too and no one cares. It is all about enthusiasm and power.
When I make fractals with UF and (OMG) with XD I think of a one hundred issue wishlist of improvements in ten minutes. And I know maybe three will come in a year or three with a new version after the money is spent .. and I have to learn to live with the handicap.
So it is the other way round in my opinion. This money thing seems to paralyse the developers.

Apophysis is alive and kicking.
My dream of UF would be an update every week with a lively discussion. But I talk to a sleepy dinosaur who easily could play the first violine in the orchestra if something of the Apo spirit would swing in.

So I thank God and the Apophysis People to be an alternative Island in all that cash flowing marketing kingdom.