I'd be perfectly fine with GCIII being released the way FE was.
I just don't think it would happen, Stardock has made it clear that there are issues on their end- and that putting things on Steamworks is easier for them. I just don't want Steamworks mandatory to play any Stardock game (installing and updating I'm ok with, if it does that it's no different than Impulse, which I was fine with, so it would be hypocritical for me to be railing on that.)