I can think of only three reasons there is not a 'real alpha':
a) They did extensive internal or private testing and realize that alpha wasn't needed
b) They have confident that the game is in better shape than expected and don't need an alpha
(a or b might be quite feasible as they have had 'crude' alpha for over a year now)
c) they are way behind schedule and are trying to compress the time line to meet a specific date of delivery (the only real risk I see with (c) is that the game is in such poor state that testers can't give reasonable feedback).
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I suppose there are other options that did not occur to me at the time I wrote this post (though they might occur to me the minute I hit submit) but i strongly suspect it is a combination of all three.
