Valve reportedly almost delisted Rainbow Six Siege from Steam after Ubisoft attempted to sell it cheaper on Uplay

Steam is the biggest PC video game marketplace in the world. For most PC gamers, it is the default place to buy and download games. Competitors like Ubisoft Connect (formerly Uplay), Epic Games Store, and others exist, but Steam still dominates in reach, sales, and visibility.

A recent Bloomberg report has now brought attention to how aggressively Valve has handled pricing and distribution decisions involving major publishers, including Ubisoft and Warner Bros.

One of the most notable cases involves Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege. According to emails reviewed during an ongoing antitrust lawsuit, Valve allegedly threatened to delist all editions of the game from Steam “by end of day tomorrow.” This happened after Valve discovered that Ubisoft was marketing a cheaper $15 “starter pack” exclusively through its own Uplay store. The report suggests Ubisoft was effectively given a short deadline to fix the situation or risk losing its Steam presence entirely.

Another example cited in the same report involves Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In 2017, Valve employee Kassidy Gerber reportedly informed Warner Bros. that preorders for Middle-earth: Shadow of War had been removed from Steam. The reason given was that the Steam price was “significantly higher than what was available at other retailers for the same version of the game.” According to the report, Warner Bros. leadership quickly reached out to resolve the issue.