SEGA announces a second annual Make War Not Love promotion is now underway as an unconventional way to celebrate Valentine's Day. This will pit fans of Company of Heroes 2 against fans of Total War: ROME II, with the winning game to receive a free content update. In support of this, both games are playable for free on Steam for the duration of the event, and the strategy sequels are each on sale for 75% off as well. Company of Heroes 2 won last year's competition, and here's word on the rematch:

SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe, Ltd present the rematch of the heavyweight strategy gaming contest they said could never happen, with Total War™: ROME II and Company of Heroes 2™ communities going head to head in the second annual ‘Make War Not Love’ competition. This Valentine’s Day weekend, the two communities will compete in consecutive three hour rounds. Every in-game victory will count towards that side’s tally for the round and the community that wins the most rounds will earn some free DLC for players of the respective game.

Battle commences at 18:00GMT/10:00PST today and blows will be traded until 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 15. During this time, both games will be available to play for free via Steam! Get involved in the pre-match trash talking on Twitter by following @totalwar and @companyheroes using the hashtag - “#mwnl”.

If Company of Heroes 2 wins, an assortment of premium skins and commanders worth around $20 will become available to download for free from 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 16 until 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 18.

If Total War: ROME II lands the knockout blow, the Black Sea Colonies Culture Pack will be made available for free from 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 15 until 18:00GMT/10:00PST on February 17. The previously unannounced Longbeards Culture Pack for Total War: ATTILA will also be free for a day when it launches in late February.

To add some extra spice to proceedings, the winning team in each round will see their community manager take a shot on the ‘Make War Not Love’ Shooting Range, choosing from a selection of random historical weaponry and taking aim at offensive Valentine’s trinkets. Make sure you catch all the carnage in merciless slo-mo! There will even be exclusive Steam achievements to pick up throughout the promotion! Look out for “Company of Zeroes, more like…” and “Snore, snore, Total Bore!” along with several more.