I don't really mind, but you can't levy this same criticism against UPlay and it gets the same level of vitriol.
From the gamedev perspective it just looks like people have decided that Valve is the desired monopoly.
A fact that Valve are very content to use against game developers, it seems.
(I say this, owning an OLED steamdeck and being extremely pleased that proton exists; but don't forget that Proton exists because Microsoft was doing to Valve, what Valve does to game developers, and Valve wanted leverage)
But Uplay is trash. It's a totally unnecessary piece of drm with its own login that delays how long it takes to get to playing games. There is nothing positive about it. At the same time I don't think Ubisoft has made a game worth playing since far cry 3, so not buying their games is normal and good.
* The Division and it's sequel The Division 2 (ubisoft games, so- uplay): https://steamcommunity.com/app/2221490/discussions/0/3768983...
* VtM Bloodhunt; which launched on Steam despite being a Tencent property, due to fan backlash.
* RENNSPORT; Where we also bent to pressure from the community and will release early-access on Steam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1dl0v6mevg
First comment on that YT video:
> Good. I refuse to use the Epic Store and I really wanted to check Rennsport out. Glad it's gonna be on Steam.
for context.