I am old enough to remember the first announcement of EDGE, so that counts, right? Because that was a long time ago. The first target date for EDGE was also a long time ago.
This is like driving with kids: Every time they ask "Are we there yet?", the answer is always "In 20 minutes". I would be very surprised if the actually release it this year. By giving the promise that EDGE will be there "in 20 minutes", they probably slowed down the development of the MiG-21Bis because now Leatherneck have to fork the it to release it with 1.2.9 and then later with the new engine.
But maybe, just maybe ED is very open to the third party developers and just likes to annoy it's customers ;)
Btw: I never joke. Only adults joke.