It is open to everybody. We had people using Blender exclusively on our beta forum. And your last comment, Autodesk seems very dedicated to this product. We have a large team of experienced people who themselves are happy to try and cut through the occasion "autodesk BS" when needed.
If you are so open then maybe you could implement Houdini Engine into Stingray? Side Effects is happy to help anyone that wants to do that. Maxon implements Houdini Engine into Cinema 4d so I'm sure Autodesk could easily do the same. This would be cool and would show how good you are in cutting thru "autodesk BS" ;)
Beside LiveLink it is not better than any of already existing engines (maybe I missed something but there was no unbelivable magic in any of those promotion movies), so it makes sense to question its purpose. And on top of it I will have to subscribe it. So I have to pay and I will not get the main feature? Well, that…
Also, here is a video on Warhammer with Stingray and Maya: http://area.autodesk.com/inhouse/videos/warhammer-the-end-times--vermintide-built-with-autodesk-maya-and-stingray
could someone please tell Autodesk that it is 2015 now and there is other countries in the world with internet available. asking me to find local reseller is like asking me to run around the town looking for landline while holding cell in my hand. dinosaurs.
But the LiveLink is the main selling point. Why such a big company like Autodesk have such big problem with making it available for other applications? Yes, I know. That's how I use Unity and Unreal. So why bother with another engine that is doing exactly the same?