You seem upset. My point still stands though? Regardless to how invested you want to be. The developer made it out he REALLY wanted to give away the steam keys for free. If he claimed that the steam version from the start was enough of an improvement that it warrants a re-purchase than that's fine.
If he did want to give it out for free but couldn't due to steam issues. Then nothing was stopping him from simply updating the itch.io version tot he latest version. I'm not quite sure where you're failing to realize the contradiction the developer is having with his statements.
I'll repeat once again for you. He claimed he wants to give for free. He continued to remove any future updates for the itch.io version and not give it for free on itch.io. You can't claim you want to give it for free and than...not give it for free. Yes he can't do it on steam but he can do it on itch.io.