A bit dopey, and annoying eh? Seems to me that they’ve made such an ‘exclusive feature’ out of this in the past with Neuendo (even a special forum thread for that) and concerned about locking into the pro post market; AAF is vip to them for interaction with (hopefully side grading from) Pro Tools.
In any case, perhaps well past that strategy’s used-by date – both in terms of ‘who cares now about Avid’, but more centrally in terms of Cubase ‘Pro’ 9 users. Absence of AAF puts Cubase behind all other DAWs in that space - LogicProX transfer in particular & which is a cheaper & very competitive with Cubase (& especially in the growing EDM Market). Ditto Studio Pro, Digital Performer, Reaper, Mixbus, Samplitude, etc.
Seems to me that the singular focus on Avid AFF & Nunendo is now a bit misplaced in 2017 & I for one would appreciate its inclusion on Cubase in the near future.