In a move that is sure to delight gaming families and households everywhere, Valve has officially launched its revamped game sharing program called “Steam Families.” Rolling out today in the Steam beta client, it replaces the previous Family Sharing and Family View offerings with a much more robust and user-friendly experience.
The highlight of Steam Families is the ability for up to 6 accounts to join the same household group and share access to each other’s game libraries more freely than ever before. Once part of a Steam Family, members can simply fire up and play any of the “sharable” games owned by others in that family simultaneously – no more getting kicked off if someone else logs in.
However, there is one key caveat – users cannot play the exact same game copy concurrently. If two family members want to play a co-op title together like Helldivers 2, one of them will need to purchase their own copy. But for the most part, Steam Families finally delivers the holy grail of effortless game sharing that customers have clamored for.
Valve announces Steam Families available today on Steam Beta Client https://t.co/qMWr7lBCIy
Intended for a household of up to 6 close family members for game sharing
Enables users to play games from other family members' libraries even if they are online playing another game pic.twitter.com/z7vQEz1iuW
— Wario64 (@Wario64) March 18, 2024
While playing a shared game, users retain their own save data, achievements, workshop access and more, maintaining their experience. Any purchased DLC is also shared, though free DLC is excluded. And for those with kids, parental controls allow monitoring and restrictions on younger members.
Not every game is necessarily eligible, however. Publishers can choose to opt titles out of sharing, and certain free-to-play, subscription-based, or operating system-specific games are already blocked. A list of currently sharable games like Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy is available.
Steam has published an extensive FAQ addressing all the nuances, including rules around family members getting banned for cheating, changing which library’s game copy is being accessed, and time restrictions on leaving or reforming new families.
Overall, Steam Families appears to be a big step up from the previous fragmented sharing systems. As long as all parties are in the same household, the new program streamlines what was formerly a clunky process of constantly transferring account access.
For gamers who’ve felt nickel-and-dimed into re-buying titles just to play with family, or those tight on funds looking to ease the burden of building a library, Steam Families could prove to be a game-changer. The ability to seamlessly share, mix-and-match, and simultaneously enjoy each other’s games is a huge quality-of-life upgrade that ticks a major box for the platform’s users.
