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Steam Family Sharing

Mercedes

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I wonder where Steam got this idea from...

But yes, that is correct. Steam, the digital distribution service on PC by Valve, is widely used and praised amongst gamers, despite the service aggressively destroying both the used market on PC and the sharing/trading of any games that people buy, something that is usually despised amongst gamers. Taking a leaf from Microsoft's book of their original plans for the Xbox One, Valve has announced the Family Sharing feature on Steam! This allows you, for the first time, to share your account-tied games with others. The person who owns the game the other wants to play needs to authorize their PC as shared, and they can then play your games. Not only that, they will earn their own achievements for the game, and will have their own saves/settings kept safe in the Steam Cloud.

Valve produced a quick FAQ, which you can read here:

I want to try this! How can I join the Family Sharing Beta?
To express interest in beta participation, join the Family Sharing Group on the Steam community. The Family Sharing beta will begin in mid-September, when a thousand Steam accounts from this group will be granted access to share their Steam libraries. You’ll know you’ve been selected when you receive an email from Steam inviting you to try out the new feature.

How do I enable Family Sharing on my computer?
Family Sharing is enabled in one of two ways: You can either locally enable sharing in Account Settings, with Family Sharing & Devices, or remotely respond to a user’s Steam request to share your previously installed games via email.

Is there a limit to the number of devices I can authorize to share my Library?
Yes. A Steam account may authorize Family Sharing on up to 10 devices at a given time.

Can I share specific games, or do I have to share my whole library?
Libraries are shared and borrowed in their entirety.

Can all Steam games be shared with friends and family?
No, due to technical limitations, some Steam games may be unavailable for sharing. For example, titles that require an additional third-party key, account, or subscription in order to play cannot be shared between accounts.

Can a friend and I share a library and both play at the same time?
No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time.

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 lender, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when a friend is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

Sometimes the games I’ve borrowed are unavailable for me to play. Why?
Borrowed games are only available on devices that have been authorized by the lender. Borrowed games will be unavailable on even an authorized device when the lender’s library is currently in use on another computer.

Who owns and can access the DLC and in-game content associated with a borrowed title?
A borrower will have access to the lender’s DLC, but borrowers may not purchase DLC for a base game they don't own. Any player may purchase, trade, earn, or otherwise acquire in-game content while playing a game, but in-game items cannot be shared between accounts. These items remain the property of the account that purchased or acquired them, whether borrowing or lending the base game.

Can region-restricted content be shared across regions?
No, any region restrictions will remain in place when lending or borrowing content.

Will I be punished for any cheating or fraud conducted by other users while playing my games?
Your Family Sharing privileges may be revoked if your library is used by borrowers to conduct cheating or fraud. We recommend you only authorize familiar computers you know to be secure.

via NeoGAF




A move I'm sure many will appreciate. The old Xbox One's systems was very reminiscent of Steam, and the Family Sharing plan was one of the features a lot of people liked. It seems Valve has swooped in and shamelessly, but effectively, mimicked this, adding to the many features Steam already has.

So, happy? Think this is a good move? Do you think this could be bad? Leave a comment.

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Salem

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May 18, 2013
10 devices, that sounds familiar.

Actually, I've been waiting for a feature like this.
 

Ventus

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omg, this is so cool, everyone in my family will be playing on Steam, playing Black Ops II and other such titles with me, Gabe Newell is such a genius...oh wait. I totally forgot that decent PCs cost over $500. And with this economy...nope, nuh-uh. Not gonna happen.

This feature is largely useless for my own purposes. More power to those who can actually make use of Family Sharing.
 

Mercedes

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Ventus said:
Gabe Newell is such a genius

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I think this'll be great for my house-hold. Me and the boyfriend share the main account and we each have our own, and the main account (which is my old one) has like 500 games on. Being able to just use that one as a main hub and each have our own is perfect! I imagine I'll be getting a call from my brothers asking if they can do the same, too. :P
 

Mercedes

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People being happy about a very good, new feature is somehow bad? Well, that's new...

Yes, we all know they got it off Microsoft (or may have) but I don't really care, it's something we've been asking for for years now and is a really cool feature I loved about the Xbox One and I now love about Steam, I'm happy Valve have implemented it. Why wouldn't I? And since I already have 500 odd games knocking around, it's instantly more useful than the one on XONE would be. To me, I like companies copying good ideas like this one. I could live without the copying of motion control fad that happened when the Wii blew up and all the COD clones.

It's just Steam getting better and better. I'll be making a hell of a lot of use with this, that's for sure. Thanks Gabe! <3
 
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How could we be so sure that Microsoft was the one that came up with this idea first? What if Steam was the one that came up with the idea before Microsoft and just never really announced it to the public? Just because Microsoft announced it first doesn't really imply Steam didn't have this planned out for quite a while now and couldn't implement it due to complications or whatnot. I mean, this is Steam were talking about. They're usually really secretive about things and love to surprise us by announcing it just weeks before the policy is fully implemented.

But yeah, this doesn't really affect me since I have most of the big title games out there in the market, but it does allow me to share with my younger cousin who's been wanting to play most of the newer (using newer very loosely here) games that came out in the past year or two. This news will make him stoked!
 

Dan

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It's alright but nothing that great. It's actually just to discourage account sharing, because some people share their account and then cry when it gets compromised. The person borrowing your game gets booted off if you want to play the same game anyway, So it's really nothing you couldn't do before, it's just a little easier now, and if you're into achievements then I suppose it's a bonus.
 

Mercedes

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How could we be so sure that Microsoft was the one that came up with this idea first? What if Steam was the one that came up with the idea before Microsoft and just never really announced it to the public?

Yeah, that's why I had the maybe in brackets of my post. :P This might have been in development from before Microsoft announced anything. Might have inspired them a bit. This has been asked for for so long that I'd be surprised if there wasn't some feature like this knocking around for awhile, maybe it was dead until Valve saw how many people liked the idea on Xbox One! :)
 

Ventus

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Because if it's Nintendo or Microsoft, it's automatically stupid. If it's Sony or Steam (Valve), then HOT DIGGITY DAWG!!!

Exactly. Which is why I am not at all enthusiastic about this thing, and cannot even begin to understand why anyone would be. Sharing your games with family and friends is NOT a new concept. We've been doing this since...what, the golden age of the arcade with our quarters. Why is everyone getting on their knees and sucking Gabe Newell's shwing over something a) really insignificant [considering PC gaming is mostly a solitary thing in the household anyway] and b) not remotely new?
 

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