Support NeoGAF

[XXL]

Trade offs either way then

Yep.

 

[RyanEvans21]

Hopefully this will push the consoles to have better sharing as well.

You can share with 5 people before on sony console (PS3). But people abused it.

 

[ArtHands]

But what if two people want to play the same game together...

Bummer

Just use Remote Play Together

 

[Ribi]

So I can just normal family share and play a game even if they're online or does it only work via family version

 

[Robb]

Didn’t really know what to expect but this actually sounds surprisingly great!

 

[Gen.Grievous]

Valve still gives us new features faster than Epic who barely has any.

It's not like they do anything else.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

You see though, this is already possible on console. Steam is behind in the times

Sad to see

Steam had a sharing feature for years. What are you talking about?
My son and I share our libraries this way.

 

[hlm666]

So I can just normal family share and play a game even if they're online or does it only work via family version

I think you have to migrate to this new family share beta and the old one will work the way it does until this gets released.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

I'm gonna to add you as my Onii Chan

 

[crackajack]

Child Purchase Requests

Am I the only one thinking about Hollywood celebs parading with their newest third world country "purchase"?

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Who here has the biggest steam library and likes me? We can be family

 

[DaGwaphics]

Interesting. Any kind of list on what games are sharable?

 

[Topher]

It's not like they do anything else.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Some people really have an irrational blind spot when it comes to everything valve does don't they? I don't get it.

 

[OGM_Madness]

Sounds fair!

Now, we wait 5 years for Xbox to catch up, 10 years for Sony and 100 years for Nintenlol

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Yeah, but it locked you out of your entire library if someone else was playing one of your games. It was stupid and completely useless.

Not if you shared your library. If you just gave someone your account, then yes this would happen.

 

[Topher]

Some people really have an irrational blind spot when it comes to everything valve does don't they? I don't get it.

It has been a bit ridiculous lately. Here we have a company that isn't trying to buy up the industry, isn't trying to buy up exclusives, isn't having to lay hundreds/thousand of people off, isn't suing people left and right, isn't trying to dominate market share.....basically all the shit console mega-corporations do, they ain't doing. So if the best folks can do and turn that around on them and say they do "nothing", which isn't even true, but if it were, damn sure better than engaging in all that other bullshit. They do need to make more games though, but yeah, this "irrational blind spot" when it comes to Valve is a bit absurd.

Not if you shared your library. If you just gave someone your account, then yes this would happen.

Current family sharing does not allow you to play anything when someone else is accessing/playing your library.

"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.

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.
"

Steam Family Sharing

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Just like that Valve revitalized PC gaming.

 

[Fake]

Start to used yesterday. So far so good.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Just like that Valve revitalized PC gaming.

It was certainly a trendsetter. I think the true gen 2 will be an even greater success.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

It has been a bit ridiculous lately. Here we have a company that isn't trying to buy up the industry, isn't trying to buy up exclusives, isn't having to lay hundreds/thousand of people off, isn't suing people left and right, isn't trying to dominate market share.....basically all the shit console mega-corporations do, they ain't doing. So if the best folks can do and turn that around on them and say they do "nothing", which isn't even true, but if it were, damn sure better than engaging in all that other bullshit. They do need to make more games though, but yeah, this "irrational blind spot" when it comes to Valve is a bit absurd.



Current family sharing does not allow you to play anything when someone else is accessing/playing your library.

"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.

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.
"

Steam Family Sharing

Thats contradicting with what I myself experienced. Phasmaphobia was on my sons account. He was playing it and through sharing I was able to play it on my account also.

Either this was a fluke, or I did something strange to make this possible.

 

[Topher]

Thats contradicting with what I myself experienced. Phasmaphobia was on my sons account. He was playing it and through sharing I was able to play it on my account also.

Either this was a fluke, or I did something strange to make this possible.

Yeah.....I'm thinking you've got a beneficial bug going on or something. We tried game sharing in my house before and it locked out the entire library. Pretty useless until this latest change.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Thats contradicting with what I myself experienced. Phasmaphobia was on my sons account. He was playing it and through sharing I was able to play it on my account also.

Either this was a fluke, or I did something strange to make this possible.

If the owner account is playing offline, you'll be able to access the shared library without issues.

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

If the owner account is playing offline, you'll be able to access the shared library without issues.

Ah! That would explain it! Thank you good sir!

 

[FoxMcChief]

It was certainly a trendsetter. I think the true gen 2 will be an even greater success.

I’m still looking for a sugar daddy to get me a gen 1.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Sounds fair!

Now, we wait 5 years for Xbox to catch up, 10 years for Sony and 100 years for Nintenlol

Actually back in the PS3 era you could share your digital library with up to 5 PS3 consoles, no country, home or IP check. Made for some really nice price dynamics for me as a broke college student. They limited it to 2 right before the PS4 launched, rip the GOAT feature.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Just like family sharing, it's more or less pointless features cuz video game publishers only have this to say - Fuck no, Gabe! We won't allow to borrow our shit, buy it again instead!

 

[Gamezone]

Just like family sharing, it's more or less pointless features cuz video game publishers only have this to say - Fuck no, Gabe! We won't allow to borrow our shit, buy it again instead!

Most publisher allow the current (old) system though. I'll be surprised to see them change their policy after this

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Most publisher allow the current (old) system though. I'll be surprised to see them change their policy after this

The thing is, it's region locked, so if you have relatives or friends who live in other region, you can't give them access to games they want to play.

 

[Mercador]

Anyone knows if it's limited by IP? Because I would like to add my father to the family but he doesn't live with me.

 

[ahtlas7]

Now I can share without disconnecting my son’s internet to simultaneously play. Sweet!

 

[jshackles]

Anyone knows if it's limited by IP? Because I would like to add my father to the family but he doesn't live with me.

Not (currently) limited by IP, the only geographical limitation seems to be the people all have to live in the same country.

Just like family sharing, it's more or less pointless features cuz video game publishers only have this to say - Fuck no, Gabe! We won't allow to borrow our shit, buy it again instead!

The actual number of games excluded is pretty small. All free-to-play games are excluded (no big deal, each person can just add the game to their account for free anyway). From my own anecdotal evidence, only about 3% of my library is excluded.

And even from THAT list of 149 games, there are three different reasons why they are excluded (that I could find)

The standard "We were told not to let you share this": (31/149 games)

Then free (but not free to play) games are excluded - this is the vast majority of mine (116/149 games):

Finally, I have a few (2/149) games that were added to my account by the developers themselves, these cannot be shared:

So - of my over 4,000 games on Steam, 0.68% of them have been specifically excluded by the publisher. 31 games out of 4,517.

 

[Dacvak]

That was a lot to read and I’m a lazy piece of shit. Can someone just tell me if I’ll still be able to share my game libraries with a few friends?

 

[Krappadizzle]

Now which one of ya'll my family members has Returnal/Dragon's Dogma 2/Armored Core/Rogue Trader in their library?

 

[Agent_4Seven]

Not (currently) limited by IP, the only geographical limitation seems to be the people all have to live in the same country.

The actual number of games excluded is pretty small. All free-to-play games are excluded (no big deal, each person can just add the game to their account for free anyway). From my own anecdotal evidence, only about 3% of my library is excluded.

And even from THAT list of 149 games, there are three different reasons why they are excluded (that I could find)

The standard "We were told not to let you share this": (31/149 games)

Then free (but not free to play) games are excluded - this is the vast majority of mine (116/149 games):

Finally, I have a few (2/149) games that were added to my account by the developers themselves, these cannot be shared:

So - of my over 4,000 games on Steam, 0.68% of them have been specifically excluded by the publisher. 31 games out of 4,517.

Region lock can't be bypassed though. The new system will be region locked which is BS. What if I want to share my games with someone I know in Ukraine?
Sniper Elite 5, Hogwarts Legacy, Psychonauts 2 and various other games can't be shared even with the old system.

 

[Gamezone]

The thing is, it's region locked, so if you have relatives or friends who live in other region, you can't give them access to games they want to play.

So what defines region? Inside your own country?

 

[Agent_4Seven]

So what defines region? Inside your own country?

Yes, exactly. You can't use Family feature outside of your own country and you're region locked while using it.

 

[Kataploom]

This is amazing... Literally the sole reason I never left my sister or wife play my games with Family Sharing was because I couldn't then play myself, this changes everything!

Now...

FAQ

Who can be in a Steam Family?

While we know that families come in many shapes and sizes, Steam Families is intended for a household of up to 6 close family members.

To that end, as we monitor the usage of this feature, we may adjust the requirements for participating in a Steam Family or the number of members over time to keep usage in line with this intent.

Does this mean we can't have friends and they'd know it or what exactly? I have very close friends who I would like to share my games to, and I wouldn't even be changing them constantly (hell, maybe ever lol), would Valve have a problem if they play from another location/country?

 

[jshackles]

I have very close friends who I would like to share my games to, and I wouldn't even be changing them constantly (hell, maybe ever lol), would Valve have a problem if they play from another location/country?

Currently, family members have to be from the same country. There aren't any IP or regional restrictions in place, but Valve also said they'll be monitoring how this is used and may change that in the future.

 

[Gamezone]

What is the family symbol at the top right for? When it's red, I can't use my Steam before I enter my PIN to deactivate it

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Is there a catch to this? Cause I’m now in a family that buys practically every game and it has me thinking about getting a Steam Deck. But if it’ll get limited to a single external IP or whatever like Netflix then I don’t want to spend that ~$700 on the deck.

 

[Topher]

Is there a catch to this? Cause I’m now in a family that buys practically every game and it has me thinking about getting a Steam Deck. But if it’ll get limited to a single external IP or whatever like Netflix then I don’t want to spend that ~$700 on the deck.

Valve said they are going to monitor and possibly make changes in the future, but I don't think they have said you must share the same IP. Only that it is limited to 6 "close" family members.

From the OP:

"To that end, as we monitor the usage of this feature, we may adjust the requirements for participating in a Steam Family or the number of members over time to keep usage in line with this intent."

You might want to wait until it comes out of beta before deciding on making that investment.

For myself, I joined the beta and added my son to my "family" in Steam. All his games just showed up immediately. Fantastic feature.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Valve said they are going to monitor and possibly make changes in the future, but I don't think they have said you must share the same IP. Only that it is limited to 6 "close" family members.

From the OP:

"To that end, as we monitor the usage of this feature, we may adjust the requirements for participating in a Steam Family or the number of members over time to keep usage in line with this intent."

You might want to wait until it comes out of beta before deciding on making that investment.

For myself, I joined the beta and added my son to my "family" in Steam. All his games just showed up immediately. Fantastic feature.

Well it’s loosely my wife and her two siblings. But it’s 3 locations with significant others like me the husband of her. It’s not like i paid to be on some awesome family in some forums.

 

[Topher]

Well it’s loosely my wife and her two siblings. But it’s 3 locations with significant others like me the husband of her. It’s not like i paid to be on some awesome family in some forums.

Sounds like close family to me.