Following beta testing earlier this year, Steam Family has launched with new ways to connect with relatives on the gaming portal. Up to five family members can be invited to join the group, giving them access to a shared Family Library. Each member can create their own save files and collect their own gaming achievements in the Family Library.
The highlight of the new Family feature is that multiple people in a group can play games from a shared library at the same time. Also, if you own multiple copies of a game, multiple people can play that title at the same time. The caveat with Family Sharing is that game developers may choose not to support the feature. Steam maintains a list of titles that currently have Family Sharing enabled.
Steam Family also incorporates the functionality of the old Steam Family View, allowing adults to monitor and restrict what kids in their group can do on the platform. Any adult in the family can restrict a child’s access to the Steam Store, Community, and Chat. They can also set playtime limits, approve limit extensions, and recover a child’s account if they lose their password.
This type of Family Sharing plan does not necessarily reflect an individual’s family environment, and Steam imposes some restrictions on the use of Steam Family: Adults can leave a family group at any time, but must wait one year before joining or creating another family; and Steam accounts must be in the same country to join a family group.
