Steam Family Sharing now out of beta

Valve is ready to bring families (or ten really close friends) a lot closer together, as the company has brought its Family Sharing program out of beta.

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Valve is ready to bring families (or ten really close friends) a lot closer together, as the company has brought its Family Sharing program out of beta. All Steam users will now be able to share games with others, without compromising their own save progress or achievements.

Family Sharing allows users to grant family members or close friends authorization to download and play their games. They can be shared across ten devices and five accounts. Just remember that two users won't be able to play the same game at the same time and that guests cannot purchase DLC to a title that they do not own.

Check out the handy FAQ on the Steam Family Sharing website for more information about how the feature works.

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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 1, 2014 11:00 AM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Steam Family Sharing now out of beta.

    Valve is ready to bring families (or ten really close friends) a lot closer together, as the company has brought its Family Sharing program out of beta.

    • reply
      March 1, 2014 10:09 PM

      This is useless until two people can play from the same library at the same time (i.e. different games). It would be nice for my wife to be able to play one game while I play another from the same library.

      • reply
        March 2, 2014 5:07 AM

        I'm with the wtf tag on this post. The WHOLE POINT of this is so that you and your wife can have separate steam accounts with separate cloud saves etc and still only need one copy of any game.

        • reply
          March 2, 2014 8:24 AM

          Maybe I can't read right, but the description does seem to say that while you are on someone else's library, that same someone else cannot access his/her library without kicking you out. And you can't access the library if the owner (or anyone else for the matter) is already using it. It's not per game, it's per game library. If I share my 200+ games library with you and you are playing my Portal 2, I'll kick you out if I want to play Skyrim.

          From the FAQ:
          Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?
          No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time.


          and

          When I authorize a device to lend my library to others, do I limit my own ability to access and play my games?
          As the account holder, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when another user is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

          • reply
            March 2, 2014 9:06 AM

            Exactly. Dafugg needs to practice reading.

            • reply
              March 4, 2014 5:32 AM

              I somehow missed this in the FAQ. I agree that this limitation makes the whole system way less attractive. I suppose it's still better than nothing though.

      • reply
        March 3, 2014 7:34 AM

        I guess I'd share my library if I was very unlikely to use it for awhile. That'd be rare, since I check out games at work fairly often

    • reply
      March 2, 2014 1:52 AM

      Hey does anyone with Assassin's Creed 4 want to share steam libraries with me? I really want to play
      Assassin's Creed 4, but I just can't afford it now (have a wife +son, and I am on a minimum wage job).
      So I am guessing I can play on someone's library of games, and at the same time they can use my library?
      The steam games I have are:

      Assassin's Creed 3
      Bioshock Infinite
      Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
      Dead Island
      Deus Ex: Human Revolution
      Dirt Showdown
      Doom 2
      Final Doom
      Hitman: Absolution
      Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
      Master levels for Doom 2
      Metro 2033
      Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition
      Nexuiz
      Sleeping Dogs
      The Stanley Parable
      Tomb Raider
      Ultimate Doom

      • reply
        March 2, 2014 4:51 PM

        be extremely careful sharing with people you dont know or trust:

        Will I be punished for any cheating or fraud conducted by other users while playing my games?

        Your Family Library Sharing privileges may be revoked and your account may also be VAC banned if your library is used by others to conduct cheating or fraud. Additionally, VAC-banned games cannot be shared. We recommend you only authorize familiar computers you know to be secure. And as always, never give your password to anyone.

        • reply
          March 3, 2014 12:10 AM

          I understand what you're saying ~ you're right.

          The trouble is, basically ALL of my friends, and also my brother, pirate games. They don't spend a single cent on any software whatsoever.

          It seems that I am the only one who pays for games ~ (because I believe in Jesus, and Jesus taught to "Obey the laws of the land.")

          Maybe I need to find some new friends and family... lol

    • reply
      March 2, 2014 2:00 AM

      So I need to login to my brother's account, install the games from it, then send a share request? I've searched but nothing I've seen is definite.

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