DISCLAIMER: I have not pre-ordered 'this game'. That being said, I find this whole situation very interesting, and enjoy following the drama.

My take on this is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The elephant in the room is why SkitB cannot mention Predator in public. My guess (and that's all it is) is that this is a licensing restriction. That SkitB paid as little as possible for licensing, and one of the restrictions placed on them was 'no public advertising'. Since Predator was sold out (or near so) maybe SkitB figured that was OK. But then the license holder came and asked them to cleanse the 'net of all mention of Predator pin...and that's what they did - but yet they still retain the rights to build the machines. ...and here we are.

....or I could be wrong.