Valve’s new Steam Families feature is now fully available after its beta release earlier this year. Steam Families allows parents to share games with family members, manage parental controls, and approve game purchase requests from their children.
A key enhancement of Steam Families compared to Valve’s previous Family Sharing system is that multiple users can access and play games from a shared library simultaneously.
For example, if I’m playing Balatro, and my partner, who is part of my Steam Family, wants to play Arranger, we can both enjoy our games at the same time.
However, if my partner wants to play Balatro while I’m already using it, she will need to purchase an additional copy. Steam Families also enables playing shared games offline.
According to Valve, Steam Families are designed to include your immediate family, with up to six close family members allowed. Each member of a Steam Family will have their own saved games and achievements.
Adults can leave a Steam Family at any time, but must wait a year before starting or joining a new Family. Children can only be removed by an adult family member or with the assistance of Steam support.
Valve has indicated that the old Family Sharing feature will be phased out eventually, so if you’re still using it, you may want to transition to Steam Families.
To start using Steam Families, update your Steam client. The latest update also includes several other improvements, such as a redesigned screenshot manager.
