I'm disapointed here too. Like every commercial software just keeps increasing in price. Some add features people want, some don't, and people want different things. However, the landscape is shifting towards open source and real time for many people, and the timing is just feels way off.
When the price was increased before we also got Phoenix etc, and Chaos could cash in on many more users by bundeling software and charging for something they were producing anyway.
If this increase was timed with "now Anima is included" I would've jumped out of my chair screaming hooray! Now the feeling is just "what? why? Is it an indication of a new direction and is going to keep happening every year? And has Corona usage decreased so much they have to charge more to break even or what is this?"
And to everyone working at Chaos/Corona I really like using the product. It's really great at what it does. For me it's the best and most fun to use CPU-renderer.