As already stated by thrison, it was planned to be a part of a GOTY expansion. As for Freelancer, they were asking early testers how much they’d pay for Freelancer (early versions of Freelancer allegedly had more map changes).
It might’ve been made free since plans for a GOTY version fell through, they didn’t have enough content etc. Early estimates placed the street art, ornamental, and ancestral set of items and suits as escalations in their respective maps (Berlin, Dubai, and Dartmoor). But clearly they needed to fill the gear walls and mastery levels.
I personally think it was made free because of the delays to Freelancer and that they’ve been making profit on the game since a week after it first launched in 2021, they could afford it.
I don’t think it’s an apology, an apology for what exactly?