Why would it "astonish" you? There's probably a sound business reason behind it. It's a small software house, just some guys trying to make a living.
Weeks before the release they had to reply tweets regarding if it would be a paid upgrade and they said "they would only know in the release". This bothered me the most, we could all be told previously that it would be a paid upgrade at least.
Also, their reply doesn't sound like they had a solid business strategy at all.
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Of course, I already bought Sketch 3, it doesn't mean I can't be frustrated by how they handled the whole thing. I just hope they learn the lesson for Sketch 4.