How is it locked behind a paywall..?
If you mean the makeship campaign code then
1) The campaign was made way before the reveal of a crow64 game existing
2) The game and its contents are free and accessible to ya
3) People supported the campaign because they wanted to support adam, and to also get their little crow plushies
The code was just a reference to the makeship campaign as in that area you can find a cipher which reveals the sentence "WERE ONLY MADE AS PLAYTHINGS" (it has even deeper lore implications but itd be too much for an itch.io reply lol). also the majority of the puzzles found in the game are references to older parts of the ARG.
I recommend you reading the 2023 recap doc as more puzzles and content of Crow 64 was released before the game! (just thought id point that out)
Sorry for nerdin out there, but had to clarify as it seemed a little unfair ^^