I think they're going through some growing pains is all.
There was that little fiasco a while back where "giveaway" items didn't include lifetime support (understandably) and they didn't denote this clearly, and their standards with participating creators could have been a little better too, which resulted in a lot of items getting review-bombed like crazy.
I admit I even did this to one product because it was actually removed from my account before I had a chance to download it, because the promotion was over. They since fixed that though.
People also do dumb things that hurt everyone involved, like leave 1-star reviews that are essentially customer support questions. "Would not work." Or something.
I dunno, if it were ArtStation or something I'd probably be like "Yeah they're being fishy!"
But the CGCookie / Autotroph / Superhive people are good folk, and I don't think anybody's getting filthy rich off Superhive. Could be wrong, but I'd love to hear what they have to say about it before assuming deceptive behavior.