Freeroam is still coming, unless I missed something! They released a trailer about it just a couple months back and have still been talking about it in interviews about the current controversy (scrapping the model for a career mode based on buying cars with money like in Gran Turismo)

I normally like to avoid early access, but I grabbed ACE when it was cheap enough that I would be okay if it failed. I've just been dipping in and out since then to check out each update. Doing a Nurburgring tourist layout track day with a friend was a lot of fun in the current one