[HelloMcFly]

I think they are probably more interested in avoiding the ~15-30% (rumored) cut that Steam takes for digital sales of their games. And I know in EA's case, they want to sell DLC through their game, not through Steam's client specifically to avoid that charge (that's the reason some EA games were removed from Steam when Valve changed their policy on the matter).

[cookiecaper]

They do this even on games purchased directly through Steam. It's obviously not about cutting out Steam, because they still facilitate their sales via Steam and presumably are still obliged to render commissions. As Ubisoft says in their own announcement, UPlay did not accept payments directly; distribution channels like Steam or physical retail were still required to obtain the games.