Steam has officially rolled out its new Steam Families feature after undergoing beta testing earlier this year. This new system replaces the previous Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View features, offering a more streamlined and feature-rich experience for households with multiple gamers.
Steam Families allows users to create a digital family of up to six Steam accounts and pool their game libraries together. This means that family members can access and play games from each other’s collections, providing a more cost-effective and convenient way to enjoy a wider variety of titles, similar to how console gamers can share physical copies of games with each other albeit Steam’s take does carry certain understandable limitations.
Steam Families lets multiple family members play games from the shared library at the same time. Previously, only one person could access the shared library at a time, which often led to frustration and scheduling conflicts. Now, as long as there are multiple copies of a game within the family, different members can play that game concurrently, with Valve using Portal 2 as an example in their FAQ.
For example, if two members of a Steam Family own copies of a popular title, any two players in the family can enjoy that game at the same time. If a third copy is purchased by another family member, up to three players can dive into the action simultaneously. This feature alone is a game-changer for households with multiple gamers, as it eliminates the need to purchase duplicate copies of games for each family member.
The new system also introduces a more robust set of parental controls. It lets the adult members designate other members as children, allowing them to manage and monitor their gaming activities, including setting playtime limits, approve or deny requests for game purchases, and restrict access to certain Steam features such as the store, community forums, or chat functions.
Additionally, adult members can view activity reports for child accounts and recover lost passwords, providing an extra layer of security and oversight. This makes Steam Families an attractive option for parents who want to introduce their children to gaming while maintaining control over their digital experiences.
It’s worth noting that all games in a user’s Steam library are automatically added to the Steam Family for all members to access. However, Valve has stated there will be be some exceptions if a game developer chooses to exclude their title from family sharing due to technical reasons.
While Steam Families offers numerous benefits, there are important considerations to think about. Perhaps the most significant is the one-year cooldown period that it imposes on users who leave a Steam Family. Once a user exits a family group, they must wait an entire year before they can join or create another one.
Another crucial factor is the shared responsibility for online behavior within a Steam Family. If one member of the family is caught cheating in an online game and they receive a ban, that ban may extend to the family members who owns the game. This means that users could potentially face consequences for the actions of others in their Steam Family.
Despite these potential drawbacks, the introduction of Steam Families is huge for an increasingly digital world where Sony has already begun phasing out physical discs and will likely continue to do so because of how well the PlayStation 5 Disc Drive is selling.
The ability to play shared game copies offline is a welcome addition. Now, multiple family members can enjoy their shared library even when an internet connection is unavailable.
According to Valve, it will eventually retire the old Family Sharing feature. To use the Steam Families feature, users simply need to update their Steam client to the latest version. The update also includes other improvements, such as a redesigned screenshots manager.
Valve is currently enjoying a massive year. It opened the doors to AI titles earlier this year and welcomed its newest game, Deadlock, which has challenged hero shooter trends and avoided a similar fate to Concord en route to posting huge numbers for the company.
