Valve is changing how people share their games with their family members on Steam. Called Steam Families, this new feature is an improved version of the previously available Family Sharing and Family View options. It is available in beta and allows up to five family members to form a virtual household on Steam. Each member can have their individual accounts, save files, achievements, and friend lists.
What is Steam FamiliesPut simply, Steam Families allows you to invite up to 5 other close family members to form a virtual household on Steam. All members of this family gain shared access to each other’s game libraries, while still maintaining their own individual accounts, save files, achievements, and friend lists.
If you own a copy of a game, your partner or child in the family can install and play it from their Steam account without buying it again. However, multiple family members can play different shared games simultaneously as long as enough total copies are owned by the whole family. If two people want to play the same game at the same time, someone else would need to buy another copy.
For example, if you own Portal 2 and Half-Life, one family member could be playing Portal 2 while another plays Half-Life at the same time. But if two people want to play Portal 2 concurrently, someone else would need to buy a second copy. Up to the total number of copies owned across the family can be played at once.
Setting up your Steam FamilyTo use Steam Families, you need to opt into the Steam beta client and create your new Steam Family. Go to the Interface section in the Steam settings, select “Steam Beta Update” from the dropdown menu under “Beta participation,” and restart Steam.
Then, go to your Account Details and look for “Family Management” to send invites to your immediate family members. Once they accept the invite and also opt into the beta, their owned games will show up in a new “Family Library” section for you to install and play.
Parental controlsSteam Families provides a comprehensive set of parental controls that enable parents to manage their children’s access to games and content. With these controls, parents can easily set which games child accounts can access, limit playtimes on a per-day or per-week basis, and review activity reports to see what their kids have been playing. They can also restrict access to certain Steam features, such as the store, community tabs, and chat.
If a child requests access, parents can temporarily or permanently override any of these limits. This level of control makes it much easier for parents to allow younger players to use Steam without encountering any inappropriate content.
Additionally, a new option is available for parents to allow children to send a request for an adult in the family to purchase a game for them. Instead of having to buy a gift copy or share a credit card, the adult can simply approve the request and have the game charged to their own account. The game will be instantly available in the child’s library. This feature is both convenient and great for maintaining control over purchases.
What are the limitationsIt’s important to understand that the feature called “Steam Families” doesn’t mean that all Steam games can be shared through it. Game developers have the option to exclude their games from family sharing for various reasons. For example, some games may require separate third-party accounts or subscriptions to play, or certain types of DLCs can only be shared if the base game is owned.
Free-to-play games and games that were already ineligible under the old Family Share plan are not included in family sharing. Therefore, it’s essential to check if the specific games you want to share are supported. However, as a general rule, if the game was shareable before, it’s likely that it can be shared under the new system too.
Leaving a Steam FamilyThe Steam Families feature has been designed for households and not for large extended families. So, there are certain limitations that have been put in place. If an adult decides to leave a family, they will not be able to join or create a new family for a period of one year. The same time limit applies to the “slots” in a family. This means that if a member leaves the family, they cannot be replaced by a new member for a minimum of 12 months. Moreover, children are not allowed to leave a family on their own and will need to be removed by an adult or by contacting Steam support.
Account bansValve says that if any user engages in misconduct like cheating and gets banned from a game, the ban will apply to the entire family’s access to the game. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that everyone is on their best behaviour to avoid getting your shared games revoked.
Steam Families appears to be a significant improvement over Steam’s previous family option. It offers the convenience of multiple people using different shared games at the same time, along with comprehensive and easy-to-use parental control features. While there may be certain limitations and complications, it still makes sharing a Steam library much easier for many households. If you regularly share your Steam library with your immediate family, opting into the Steam Families beta is an easy decision that can expand everyone’s access to great PC games.
What is Steam FamiliesPut simply, Steam Families allows you to invite up to 5 other close family members to form a virtual household on Steam. All members of this family gain shared access to each other’s game libraries, while still maintaining their own individual accounts, save files, achievements, and friend lists.
If you own a copy of a game, your partner or child in the family can install and play it from their Steam account without buying it again. However, multiple family members can play different shared games simultaneously as long as enough total copies are owned by the whole family. If two people want to play the same game at the same time, someone else would need to buy another copy.
For example, if you own Portal 2 and Half-Life, one family member could be playing Portal 2 while another plays Half-Life at the same time. But if two people want to play Portal 2 concurrently, someone else would need to buy a second copy. Up to the total number of copies owned across the family can be played at once.
Setting up your Steam FamilyTo use Steam Families, you need to opt into the Steam beta client and create your new Steam Family. Go to the Interface section in the Steam settings, select “Steam Beta Update” from the dropdown menu under “Beta participation,” and restart Steam.
Then, go to your Account Details and look for “Family Management” to send invites to your immediate family members. Once they accept the invite and also opt into the beta, their owned games will show up in a new “Family Library” section for you to install and play.
Parental controlsSteam Families provides a comprehensive set of parental controls that enable parents to manage their children’s access to games and content. With these controls, parents can easily set which games child accounts can access, limit playtimes on a per-day or per-week basis, and review activity reports to see what their kids have been playing. They can also restrict access to certain Steam features, such as the store, community tabs, and chat.
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Additionally, a new option is available for parents to allow children to send a request for an adult in the family to purchase a game for them. Instead of having to buy a gift copy or share a credit card, the adult can simply approve the request and have the game charged to their own account. The game will be instantly available in the child’s library. This feature is both convenient and great for maintaining control over purchases.
What are the limitationsIt’s important to understand that the feature called “Steam Families” doesn’t mean that all Steam games can be shared through it. Game developers have the option to exclude their games from family sharing for various reasons. For example, some games may require separate third-party accounts or subscriptions to play, or certain types of DLCs can only be shared if the base game is owned.
Free-to-play games and games that were already ineligible under the old Family Share plan are not included in family sharing. Therefore, it’s essential to check if the specific games you want to share are supported. However, as a general rule, if the game was shareable before, it’s likely that it can be shared under the new system too.
Leaving a Steam FamilyThe Steam Families feature has been designed for households and not for large extended families. So, there are certain limitations that have been put in place. If an adult decides to leave a family, they will not be able to join or create a new family for a period of one year. The same time limit applies to the “slots” in a family. This means that if a member leaves the family, they cannot be replaced by a new member for a minimum of 12 months. Moreover, children are not allowed to leave a family on their own and will need to be removed by an adult or by contacting Steam support.
Account bansValve says that if any user engages in misconduct like cheating and gets banned from a game, the ban will apply to the entire family’s access to the game. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that everyone is on their best behaviour to avoid getting your shared games revoked.
Steam Families appears to be a significant improvement over Steam’s previous family option. It offers the convenience of multiple people using different shared games at the same time, along with comprehensive and easy-to-use parental control features. While there may be certain limitations and complications, it still makes sharing a Steam library much easier for many households. If you regularly share your Steam library with your immediate family, opting into the Steam Families beta is an easy decision that can expand everyone’s access to great PC games.
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