Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Before paying up, keep in mind the bait-and-switch played on people with version one. Anyone without a Steam account is stuck with an old version when it required a Steam account after launch. I'm not sure what the problem is that you're describing.
I brought the game directly and was able to play and receive updates. I can no longer do this because I do not use steam.
Reach out to the dev and I'm pretty sure they'll send you a steam key like they've done for other people.