After
a
beta
period
earlier
this
year,
Steam‘s
new
family
sharing
system
and
parental
controls
hub
is
now
available
for
everyone.
Steam
Families
is
replacing
both
Family
Sharing
and
Family
View,
creating
a
nucleus
for
all
your
game-sharing
needs.
A
Steam
Family
can
comprise
up
to
six
members
(including
yourself),
and
the
full
libraries
of
all
the
users
will
be
available
to
the
‘family’
unit,
except
for
games
where
developers
have
opted
out
of
sharing
for
whatever
reason.
No
longer
will
you
need
to
feel
bad
if
you’re
watching
your
big
brother
play
a
game
that
you
want
–
you
can
share
the
title
across
devices,
just
not
at
the
same
time.
The
most
important
upgrade
to
Steam’s
game-sharing
update
is
the
ability
for
you
and
your
family
to
play
games
from
your
library
at
the
same
time.
For
example,
your
wife
can
play
your
copy
of
Cyberpunk
2077
while
you
play
Warzone
concurrently
with
no
issues.
And
while
playing
one
copy
at
the
same
time
is
still
a
no-go,
if
there
are
two
copies
of
Call
of
Duty:
Black
Ops
6
within
your
family’s
shared
library,
you
and
your
brother
can
play
together.
With
Steam
Families,
each
user
will
have
their
own
save
files,
earn
Steam
achievements,
access
workshop
files
and
more.
That’s
a
lot
of
freedom
for
a
child
to
have
on
Steam
–
which
is
why
parental
control
are
also
key
additions.
Improved
Parental
Controls,
but
it’s
not
all
bad,
kids
There
are
two
member
(or
‘role’)
options
within
Steam
Families
–
adult
and
child.
Adults
can
manage
member
invites
and
apply
account
restrictions,
while
children
are
subject
to
controls
put
in
place
by
the
adults,
and
have
no
managerial
power.
As
an
adult,
you
control
what
games
children
have
access
to,
can
restrict
their
access
to
the
Steam
Store,
Friends
Chat
and
Community,
set
playtime
limits
and
recover
your
child’s
account
if
they
lose
their
password.
Purchasing
games
for
kids
is
also
easier
thanks
to
Steam
Families.
Usually
buying
a
game
for
a
child
requires
an
adult
to
complete
a
gift
purchase
or
let
them
borrow
your
card.
Now,
children
have
the
ability
to
add
games
to
their
cart,
and
then
request
an
adult
to
pay
for
it.
Through
their
email
or
mobile
device,
the
adult
can
then
approve
or
deny
the
request.
Out
with
the
old,
in
with
the
new
Steam
Families
is
an
exciting
improvement
to
Steam’s
family-sharing.
For
too
long
little
brothers
and
sisters
have
had
to
watch
along
while
their
older
sibling
hogs
the
PC
to
themselves.
Too
often
dad’s
have
been
booted
from
their
account
in
the
middle
of
a
run
because
their
child
opened
up
Terraria,
but
that
will
no
longer
be
the
case.
Steam
clarifies
that
the
old
Family
Sharing
feature
“will
eventually
be
retired”.
While
this
won’t
be
an
issue
for
most
users,
but
it
might
affect
some
others.
For
example,
the
older
game-sharing
feature
allowed
two
(or
more)
people
in
different
locations
to
share
libraries,
but
that
might
no
longer
be
possible.
Steam
doesn’t
directly
say
that
Steam
Families
will
be
limited
to
one
ISP,
though
terminology
like
“This
information
is
available
from
wherever
you
access
Steam,
including
your
mobile
device
when
you
are
away
from
home”
lends
us
to
believe,
like
Netflix,
that
it
will
be
limited
to
one
household.
Nevertheless,
this
is
a
massive
Steam
update
that
will
make
many
people
happy,
although
we
suspect
there
will
be
others
who
will
want
a
better
game-sharing
setup
from
Valve.
