I've heard about that, but I think people give it too much importance.
It's normal, in a project like this, for features and stuff to be excluded. For whatever reasons, they don't make it to the final cut, they're left in the code as legacy content and online niggers flip over it like they were denied the second coming of Jesus.
You would be surprised how many things begin as a draft, go through refinement and how few things make it in the end.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I personally believe it's improbable for a contractor to dictate the direction of a project, especially if many hours were poured into it.
If, on the other hand, you would've told me that WotC, being the humongous faggots they are, butted in and vetoed that content, then yeah, I'd say you're definitely right.
Also, don't believe everything the devs say. Unless you've been there, the inner workings will be hidden and all you'll get is PR statements.