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Summary
- Steam Families now allows up to 5 members to play specific shared titles simultaneously across devices, with unique save files.
- Parental controls can manage child accounts, set playtime limits, and approve game purchases through requests.
- Steam Family feature is accessible through the Steam Beta Client.
Valve has finally announced a new feature in Steam that players have long been waiting for: Steam Families. Previously, players could share their accounts with others, but there were several downsides and limitations, namely that both people couldn’t play the same game from the same account simultaneously.
As per Valve’s announcement on Steam, Steam Families looks to change this, allowing players to invite up to 5 friends or family members to a specific subsection in the games list. Each of these accounts will gain access to specific titles that have been shared with them and will be able to play the same titles simultaneously across devices, with their own unique save files. Players will also be able to play different titles at the same time across the family, Unfortunately, it’s worth noting that if a family member gets banned for cheating while playing a game, the game owner will also be banned from that game, although other family members won’t be impacted.
If two members of a family would like to play the same game at the same time, someone else in the family will need to purchase an additional copy of the game.
10 Helpful Steam Features You Didn’t Know About
Steam is undoubtedly the go-to gaming platform for PC players, but it still has some helpful features that some users might not have noticed.
Steam Families Can Be Used To Organize Parental Controls
And Manage Children’s Playtime Length
Steam Families allows players to create “Adult” and “Child” accounts, with the former being able to manage the latter. The new parental controls allow parents to set limits on what games their children can play on Steam, and for how long, setting hourly or daily playtime limits. A child account can also request additional playtime, with the adults being able to approve or deny this.
Steam Family permissions are manageable from the Steam Client, mobile device or web browser.
Parental control can also restrict access to the Steam Store, Community or Friends Chat features for their children. If a child does want a particular game from the store, instead of being able to purchase it themselves, a child account can send a purchase request for a title, which can be approved by the adults via their phone app or email. Once approved, the games will appear in the child’s account.
Game developers determine whether a game is eligible for Steam Families, so while Valve states that it wants as many games as possible to be accessible via Family Sharing, not all titles may be available due to technical limitations.
Steam Families certainly seems like a great way to share titles with others, and a good way to stop issues seen in the past where children have racked up game purchases on their parents’ accounts without their immediate knowledge. Currently, Steam Families is only available via the Steam Beta Client. To opt into this, players can go into the “Interface” tab in Steam Settings, and change the “Client Beta Participation” dropdown to “Steam Family Beta”, and from there, the Account Details tab on the Steam Store will show a “Family Management” section.
Source: Steam
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