Tweet
Ubisoft is returning to Steam after they took their ball and went home about two years ago. In 2019, Ubisoft decided to stop releasing their games through Steam, instead opting to sell their PC releases exclusively through Ubisoft Connect (formerly Uplay) and the Epic Games Store. In the same year, Ubisoft vice president for partnerships and revenues, Chris Early, said that Steam's distribution model was "unrealistic." He continued on to say that Steam "doesn't reflect where the world is today in terms of game distribution."
It's not clear what exactly caused Ubisoft to reverse their decision, but there are a few clues here and there.
The first games that Ubisoft will release in their return to Steam include 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which is the first mainline Assassin's Creed title that was released after Ubisoft parted ways from Steam. Also coming are the city-building game Anno 1800 and the free-to-play roller derby game Roller Champions.
Today's announcement from Ubisoft came not with a bang, but rather a whimper. The reveal came in a brief statement made to Eurogamer from a Ubisoft representative.
"We're constantly evaluating how to bring our games to different audiences wherever they are, while providing a consistent player ecosystem through Ubisoft Connect. Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Anno 1800 and Roller Champions are among the Ubisoft titles that will be releasing on Steam."
For now, out of the three confirmed titles coming to Steam only Assassin's Creed Valhalla has a Steam page up. You can only add the game to your Steam Wishlist at the moment. Pricing on this release release has not yet been revealed.
The December 6th date for Valhalla launching on Steam coincides with the release of the "Last Chapter" update. This will be Valhalla's last content update since its initial launch. This update will wrap up the ongoing story and include some additional "surprises" that have yet to be revealed.
The only game i've bought directly through Uplay is Driver: San Francisco after Nick Robinson exposed its availability, i would get Immortals Fenyx Rising (what a dumb name) if it appeared on Steam.
As for Uplay purchases, I don't think I ever bought anything from them directly. I redeemed a free trial to Uplay+ (or whatever they call it) where I played Far Cry 6. The last Ubisoft game I paid for was Ghost Recon Breakpoint and that was through EGS only because it was on sale and there was also that EGS coupon that took it down to only $5.