Steam Game Distribution Now More Seamless and Improved

One of the reasons why a lot of people prefer PCs over consoles is how relatively easy it is to share your games with friends and family. On consoles, digital games you own are (mostly) yours only, but with Steam, it’s actually possible to share your purchases with others. Now, Steam game sharing is getting better, with Valve revamping the whole experience with a new collection of features called Steam Families.

Steam has just added Steam Families in the Steam Beta Client, and for those who are using the beta version of the client, you can now check out the new revamped experience. Game sharing with family members and friends was already possible , so all Steam Families is doing is amalgamating Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View into a unified platform. It takes all existing features and lumps them into a single, more unified experience, while also adding some new stuff as well.

Valve

You can establish a Steam Family and invite up to 5 members, administering it via the Steam Client, mobile app, or web browser. Family Sharing grants access to each member’s game library. Despite the fact that it allows multiple family members able to play simultaneously, individuals retain ownership of their games and achievements.

Parental Controls lets adults regulate children’s gaming activities, including setting game access, playtime limits, and monitoring playtime reports. Additionally, a streamlined Child Purchase Request process allows children to request game purchases, which adults can approve and pay for remotely. Adults can leave a family but face a one-year cooldown before joining another, while children require adult intervention for removal. The system also allows for expulsion of family members by adults.

Developers retain control over game eligibility for sharing, although if this wasn’t a problem with your games before, it shouldn’t be one now. Existing Family Sharing and Family View will be transitioned to Steam Families seamlessly whenever the feature is actually rolled out to the stable version of the client, preserving their settings and enhancing parental controls. For those of us who want to try it out now, it’s available in the beta client, although if you’re not already a beta user, you shouldn’t become one just for this—bugs and all that.

Source: Valve

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