There's a middleground that isn't achievable with public releases. People can't be trusted to be responsible. If I give a beggar $10, what's to say they will use it to buy food or blow it on the lottery? There are a lot of idiots running around showing off the console hack and then it gets patched, so what's the point of releasing it in the first place?
Contrary to the ignorance of most, the people using hacks don't always cheat their asses off. Some of us don't have time to waste grinding bullshit for hours, but we want to be able to enjoy the game just as much as everyone else, so we make shortcuts. Usually these types try not to ruin the game for others, too.
The problem is there's no way to sort these people from the idiots when you make a public release.