What is Steam Families?
Steam Families allows users to share their game libraries with up to five other family members or trusted friends. Everyone in the family can access and play games from each other’s libraries, provided the games support family sharing.
Key Features:
- Shared Game Libraries: All family members can access each other’s games.
- Individual Saves and Achievements: Each member can create their own saves and earn achievements without affecting others.
- Parental Controls: Parents can monitor playtime and set restrictions for younger family members.
Steam has had family sharing for years, but the revamped “Steam Families” brings significant improvements over the legacy family sharing options. Below, we’ve outlined the differences more clearly.
How Steam Families Differs from the Previous Family Sharing Feature?
Steam Families is a significant upgrade from the older Steam Family Sharing feature, merging functionalities with new enhancements that improve user experience and control. Here are the key differences:
1. Family Structure and Membership
- Steam Families: Allows users to create a family group with up to six members, including five additional family members. Each member has distinct accounts, save files, and achievements.
- Family Sharing: Previously, users could share their entire library with up to five accounts, but only one user could access a game at a time. If the owner was playing a game, others couldn’t access it.
2. Game Access and Simultaneous Play
- Steam Families: Members can play different games from the shared library simultaneously. If two members want to play the same game, at least one must own a separate copy.
- Family Sharing: Only one user could access a game at a time. If the game owner was playing, others were locked out.
3. Parental Controls
- Steam Families: Introduces comprehensive parental controls, enabling adults to manage children’s access to games, set playtime limits, and monitor gaming activity. Children can also request game purchases directly from adults.
- Family Sharing: Lacked robust parental control features, making it difficult for parents to monitor or restrict children’s gaming habits.
4. Library Management
- Steam Families: Automatically combines all family members’ libraries into a single “Family Library,” making it easier to browse and access games.
- Family Sharing: Required manual setup for sharing libraries, and users had to switch accounts to access different libraries.
5. Future of Features
- Steam Families: Offers a streamlined and integrated approach to family gaming on Steam, replacing the older Family Sharing and Family View features.
- Family Sharing: Will eventually be deprecated as Steam Families becomes the standard for game sharing within families.
These improvements make Steam Families a more flexible and user-friendly option for sharing games among family members, enhancing both the gaming experience and parental oversight. Now we’ll guide you on how to use this feature on Steam.
Setting Up Steam Families
To start using Steam Families, follow these steps:
Step 1: Enable Steam Guard
Before creating a family, ensure that Steam Guard is enabled on your account.
- Open the Steam client.
- Click on your profile name in the top right corner.
- Go to Settings > Security .
- Select Manage Steam Guard Account Security and follow the prompts to enable it.
Step 2: Create Your Family
- Click on your profile name again and select Account Details .
- Navigate to Family Management .
- Click on Create a Family .
- Choose a name for your family.
After creating your family, click on “Invite a Member.”
- Select members from your Steam friends list.
- Decide whether each member will have adult or child permissions:
- Adults can manage family settings.
- Children are subject to parental controls.
Managing Your Family
Once your family is set up, you can manage it easily:
Adding or Removing Members
- To add a new member, go to Family Management and click “Invite a Member.”
- To remove a member, navigate to their profile in the family settings and select “Remove.”
Setting Parental Controls
- In the Family Management section, click on a child’s profile to expand it.
- Enable parental controls and configure restrictions, such as:
- Game access limits
- Daily playtime limits
- Purchase requests for new games
Playing Games from Family Libraries
To play games from a family member’s library:
- Log into Steam on your device.
- Go to the Library section.
- Games from family members will appear alongside your own.
- Download and play any game that supports family sharing.
Important Considerations
- Game Restrictions: Not all games support family sharing. Games requiring additional subscriptions or accounts may not be available.
- Concurrent Play: Only one person can play a game at a time from a shared library. If the owner starts playing a game, others will be prompted to purchase or quit.
- Cooldown Period: If you leave a family, you must wait one year before creating or joining another family.
However, in our testing, we found that you can add members to your Steam Family who are not living with you or sharing the same network. But, Valve might change this in the future if it gets exploited. A model similar to Netflix could be implemented, where all devices need to be on the same network to access the same account.
