Valve announced Steam Families. This revamped version of the program allows users to form a family group and share games. Steam Families is a new program that launches in today’s Steam Beta Client. It replaces Steam Family View and Steam Family Sharing.
Steam Families are made up of six people, but you can join them to access all the sharable titles in their library. Family Sharing, a feature which any developer may opt-out of at any time for whatever reason, is not limited to “sharable games”. Some games may not be eligible for sharing because of technical issues.
Among the games eligible for Family Sharing are Helldivers 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3. Other notable titles include Elden Ring, Cyberpunk, 2077, Balatro, Cyberpunk, and Balatro. The full list can be found here.
You can create and access your own workshop files while playing the game of a member of your family. You own the game and it will only appear in your library when you buy a title.
It is not possible for two people to play the same game. If two family members wish to use Member 1’s Helldivers 2 copy, Member 2 must either purchase their own copy of the game or borrow another member’s.
Steam released FAQ to answer some of the most pressing questions regarding Steam Families. This includes parental control and managing child purchases. You can read the entire post to get all the details. Here are some key points:
- Steam Family members can quit at any point. The person must wait an entire year to create or join a new Steam Family. A year is also the time limit for filling a vacant slot in a family. Families can also expel other family members.
- A Steam Family child cannot leave the house on his or her own. An adult must remove them.
- Offline, you can play shared family games.
- You can also access any DLC that a player owns.
- If you want to play a different Steam Family Member’s version of the game, it may not be possible.
- You cannot prevent Family members (except for Child Members) from playing the game that you own.
- You will be blocked if a member of your family is banned from a particular game for cheating.
Some games, as mentioned previously, are not eligible for Family Sharing because of technical reasons. This includes:
- A game that requires a third party key, an account or subscription to be played
- All free-to-play and DLC games
- Game DLC is free
- Restricted games or DLC in your region or that of the borrower
- The borrower cannot play games that are compatible with their operating system
- The publisher explicitly states that games cannot be shared.
- The original owner of the game has marked it as a private copy.
- Steam Families will not allow the sharing of games that currently aren’t eligible for Family Sharing. Included in this are games requiring an extra third-party subscription or account.
You’ll have to sign up for the Steam Family beta in order to create a Steam Family. Select “Settings”, then click on Steam at the top left. Choose “Interface” and then, under “Client Beta participation”, choose Steam Family Beta. Steam will need to be restarted to finish the installation.
What do you think of Steam Families, and do you plan to make one? Let us know in the comments!