Following quite a long beta, Valve has launched its Steam Families feature to the public. The feature is a revamped game-sharing system where you can add family members and friends to your account and let them play Steam games while you’re also playing your own Steam games.
Up to five family members can be invited to Steam Families per account. Each game that is shared has its own save file created and its own unlocked achievements. So it is like you own the game but you don’t really own the game.
The biggest change with this new Steam Families feature is the shared game use. Previously, if someone was sharing their games with another member, if that game owner were to launch any game on their PC, it would boot the other user from their session.
However, now you can continue playing and accessing someone’s library as long as you don’t launch the same game they are playing. In order to play the same game, you’ll need to own multiple copies of that game.
Of course, there are exceptions to this system. Developers can choose whether or not to allow game sharing on Steam. Some devs may choose to not include it as a feature. This means you won’t be able to share it and every family member will have to purchase the game and own it.
Steam has released a full list of supported games. You can also find games by searching the store and ticking the “Family Sharing” filter. This will show all supported titles.
Valve has also incorporated the previous Steam Family View parental control feature into this new system. Once you add family members, you’ll be able to monitor their game time, add age restrictions and change other settings including Steam Store access.
Once you join a Steam Family View, be it as a monitoring system or for game sharing, you can leave at any time but you won’t be able to join another Steam Family for a year. Parental
Upon updating Steam today, you can access the feature in the settings.
