Honest question: How do we know if MS paid for this?
I personally don't think MS is behind this. I'm not saying it's not possible, rather I haven't see anything to say it is. And saying they have something to gain is the proof they did did it..is pretty illogical.
That said, I think the bigger question is: why would Ubisoft want parity? Why would they want to limit the performance of their game, and purposely limit a console that a lot of people paid for (because of the consoles specs as a feature)?
The only reason that would make sense, is that it was a business decision. And given that this industry relies heavily on relationships, I dunno. It's not that far fetched. I agree that doesn't damn MS, and especially doesn't prove they paid money for it. Unless I'm missing something. So i agree with you in that sense.
EDIT: I guess I missed a post about an MS marketing deal. I have to go back and read it. For the record, I still think this is a terrible practice regardless the reason.