Steam Families is Out of Beta and Available for Everyone; Watch Introduction Video Here!

For those who might not have been aware, here are some changes to the way Steam handles family sharing. Unlike before, when you could share your library with others, but they could only play when you weren't online, now the members of your Steam family can play games you aren't logged into.

Additionally, every member of the family will have their own save files, achievements, access to the games' workshops, and more. The more people have a copy of the game, the more people can play.

In order to offer more safety for children and more control to parents, accounts can be labelled as children, allowing the parents to have more control. This means:

• Parents can set limits on what and when the child account can play.
• They can limit what games can be played and seen.
• The child account's activity can be monitored, including how long they've played and when.
• Parents can restrict access to the Friends Chat, Community, and Store.
• Recover a child's account password.
• Approve or deny purchase requests from the child accounts.

In order to keep players from abusing the system and sharing them with others outside of their household, Steam will keep an eye on how things go. Currently, Steam Families can have up to six members.

If you'd like to check out the full FAQ, check out the Steam post right here! Check out the video for a better look.