Releasing Malak before this round of championship would have simply screwed up the matchmaking, which is, from what we saw, most likely based on variables like spending: y/n, how much spent, on what spent (Malak, first DR event) and so on and so forth. It's definitely not based on GP or what toons you have, as we clearly saw from the generalised complaint. Releasing Malak before the GAC would have brought so much complaint from whales getting defeated by f2ps that got Malak the second way around that they decided not to release him. It would make them lose some revenue by people that could see this as a deterrent, indeed. They're just doing all they can to sneak in whales' heads the solid belief that spending is right and that it does well in the game. They're just waiting for whales to get an actual edge even on other Malak owners (g13 Malak, g13 in general, other premium stuff they will release shortly and so on).