why not to distribute some free copies of the game so there are more players online?

[nearmiss]

The principal attraction to IL2 was the fairest online play. The cheats were eliminated and the IL2 online game was carefully watched to keep it fair.

Up until IL2 the online servers for games were just wild, unbelievably crazy.

The MSFT Zone for CFS2 was so full of cheats it was kiddie land. The zone has been history for many years. It was an intolerable mess for air combat.

No one gave away anything, IL2 was excellent online game and people bought it.