Then you’d just end up with people whining about how little they got.
The bottom line is that Aquilas are the only real way that Darktide makes any money. There is no Battle Pass. Giving them away is basically asking FS to pay gamers.
The game is already pretty cheap and Steam takes a 30% cut every time someone buys it or Aquilas.
If you think the content drops are slow now, imagine giving away your only source of monetization and then having to pay your devs with smiles and handshakes.