Duke Nukem Forever...
They also owe it to everyone who preordered the game, don't you think?
They actually don't. It would be nice, but they aren't required to legally. You are not an investor, you are a consumer. The only thing they would have to tell you was if you the product is cancelled(it is not), if the release date is moved(which they did), or if the game was changed to a non-game item(Witcher 3 is now a cookbook). While people prefer transparency, it's not legally required and can cause major issues for the company trying to be good to their customers.
They've been good in the past, releasing EEs with re-recorded dialogue, upgrading the engines, etc etc, for free. I feel they've earned a bit of leeway in this case specifically because they HAVE put their money behind their product. When most games get "upgraded" it gets released as a GOTY and you have to buy it again. In this case, they gave it to everyone that purchased the game for free. Remember, the reasons behind why they did EEs was related to financials being weak prior to release. This time, they are doing the polishing ahead of time, and that's admirable. If it comes out a big, buggy mess and is never fixed, then in the future people will know not to trust them. Until that time, they've earned some respect from their consumers.