UPDATE: Valve has issued Eurogamer with a statement disputing the European Commission's claims and vowing to appeal.

A Valve spokesperson told Eurogamer: "During the seven year investigation, Valve cooperated extensively with the European Commission ("EC"), providing evidence and information as requested. However, Valve declined to admit that it broke the law, as the EC demanded. Valve disagrees with the EC findings and the fine levied against Valve.

"The EC's charges do not relate to the sale of PC games on Steam - Valve's PC gaming service. Instead the EC alleges that Valve enabled geo-blocking by providing Steam activation keys and - upon the publishers' request - locking those keys to particular territories ("region locks") within the EEA. Such keys allow a customer to activate and play a game on Steam when the user has purchased it from a third-party reseller. Valve provides Steam activation keys free of charge and does not receive any share of the purchase price when a game is sold by third-party resellers (such as a retailer or other online store).

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What Comes After is a game themed around death, with themes of suicide.

Bertie: I never realised how wise babies can be. When the baby on the train told me it's not that babies don't understand adults, it's the other way around, I felt as though I'd been hit in the face with a profound baby toy. I'd never really thought about it like that before. I always assumed they were the ones who needed teaching - but do they? They seem pretty happy and content with their lot. It's only in the many ways adults complicate things that life becomes more, well, complicated.

This is What Comes After; this is the way the game makes you think. It is a game about life, about reflecting on a life, and waving away all the complexity to enjoy simply being. It's the story of a young lady called Vivi who has lost her way a bit, and one night on the way home from work, on the train, she falls asleep. She literally drifts off, and she finds herself on a spirit version of the same train. A train taking spirits to... what comes after. What follows are many conversations with the once-living on their final journey, and the nuggets of wisdom they have to impart.

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The story of Among Us really is the stuff of fairytales: originally released back in 2018 by a dev team of three, last year it suddenly became one of the most popular titles in the world after several high-profile streamers began to play it. In a year of lockdowns, Among Us appealed to many as a way to entertain themselves on video calls, and even some American politicians got in on the action.

But this massive spike in players brought challenges - a wave of cheaters being one of them - and developer Innersloth had to make some serious changes to the way it worked. In a new blog post, the dev team has addressed why some features are taking longer to implement than some expected.

"Among Us gained incredible traction pretty late into 2020 that we weren't expecting, and that meant a lot of change for us," Innersloth explained. "...Not only did we need to switch back to working on Among Us after thinking it was done, but we also needed to set ourselves up more sustainably to work on the game. We had to spend two months just restructuring, figuring out new processes, and getting external partners to help us manage on board."

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UPDATE 22/2/21: Just weeks after the announcement of a Shao Jun manga, Assassin's Creed has revealed the fan favourite will also get her own novel trilogy.

The Ming Storm will be published in the UK on 8th July (and in North America on 1st June) and kick off a trilogy of books featuring the Chinese Assassin.

This story will chronicle how Shao Jun came to travel to Europe and train under Ezio, as seen in the Assassin's Creed Embers film, before she returns home to China with her new teachings.

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Fortnite's previously-teased Predator crossover is now fully operational, with the masked hunter available to unlock for current battle pass holders via new challenges.

Predator has also become a roaming boss, able to be found and battled on the battle royale map for all players. Look for him in the appropriately jungle-themed Stealthy Stronghold.

Defeat Predator and it'll drop Predator's Cloaking Device, which lets you become nearly invisible for a short time. If this sounds a bit overpowered, well, this is a supposed to be a reward for killing a tough boss who everyone else is after too.

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Relic has released a 64-bit update for Company of Heroes 2.

The update should result in greater stability and overall performance for the vast majority of players, Relic said in a blog post.

It also enables crossplay between Steam and Microsoft Game Pass / Windows Store users.

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Guerrilla has released a significant patch for Horizon Zero Dawn on PC that combats many of the remaining issues players had with the game.

Patch 1.10 introduces crash fixes and performance improvements reported by the game's community, Guerrilla said.

There are a raft of graphical improvements, too.

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Imagine you're walking down an English country lane one evening when you're struck by the feeling you're not alone. You turn, and a few yards away you see, in the fading light of day, the shape of what can only be described as a big black dog. It has shaggy hair and huge eyes, and it's watching you.

You walk on, trying to shrug it off, but every time you look back, it's there. Fear begins to creep in and you quicken your pace. You're nearly running when you reach your destination and, in a rush of courage, spin to confront your pursuer. But it's gone, vanished.

"Oh, yeah," one of the locals later tells you, completely unsurprised. "You've just seen a black dog."

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Developer Rebellion is bringing the second season of its undead shooter Zombie Army 4: Dead War to a close today, 19th January, with the launch of Dead Zeppelin, the third and final instalment in its Death from Above story campaign.

Dead Zeppelin, which follows on from Season 2's debut episode Damnation Valley in October and Alpine Blitz in December, sees players boarding an undead airship to thwart the zombie army's evil plans. You can catch a glimpse of the ensuing carnage in the launch trailer below.

Season 2's concluding campaign episode is accompanied by the usual selection of cosmetic items and weapon bundles, including the Night Ops Jun Outfit, Toxic Hazard Weapon Skins, Black Ice Weapon Skins, Horror Charms Pack, Buckets Headgear Pack, 7.65mm Polizeipistole Pistol Bundle, and Nagant M1895 Pistol Bundle - all available to purchase individually or included in Zombie Army 4's Season Pass Two.

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Balan Wonderworld, the whimsical new action-platformer from Sonic the Hedgehog and NiGHTs co-creators Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima, is getting a sizeable demo next Thursday, 28th January, ahead its full launch in March.

Balan Wonderworld - which is set to release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC - takes place in the mysterious Balan Theatre, where "memories and vistas from the real-world mix with the things that people hold dear".

The ensuing platform action unfolds across 12 distinct worlds, each created by the worries of a different cast member, and is bolstered by over 80 wearable costumes, all imbued with their own unique abilities - from the fiery breath of a dragon to a sheep's inflatable, floating fleece.

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