Steam Families Exits Beta, Now Available to All Users

Valve has announced that Steam Families, a comprehensive suite of family-oriented features, is now out of beta and accessible to all Steam users. This new offering replaces both Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View, consolidating family-related functionalities into a single, user-friendly platform.

Steam Families allows users to create a family group of up to six members, including the creator. Management of the family group can be done through the Steam Client, mobile devices, or web browsers, providing flexibility for users.

Key features of Steam Families include:

1. Family Sharing: Members of a Steam Family can access shareable games owned by other family members. This shared library appears as a subsection in each member’s game list. Users retain ownership of their games and can still earn achievements and access workshop files when playing shared titles.
2. Simultaneous Play: Multiple family members can play different games from the shared library concurrently. If a family owns multiple copies of a game, several members can play that game simultaneously.
3. Parental Controls: Adults in the family group can set restrictions on children’s accounts, including game access, playtime limits, and feature restrictions for the Steam Store, Community, and Friends Chat.
4. Child Purchase Requests: A new payment option allows children to request purchases from adult family members, streamlining the process of buying games for younger users.
5. Account Management: Adults can monitor children’s activity, view playtime reports, and assist with account recovery if needed.

It’s worth noting that developers have the option to exclude their games from Family Sharing for technical or other reasons. Users are advised to check the Steam Store for a current list of Family Sharing-compatible games.

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