Steam Friends & Family Group Officially Launches: Share Games with Family Members

The Steam Friends & Family group, a feature that allows users to share games with family members, has officially launched. This feature replaces the original Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family Monitoring functions.

The Steam Friends & Family group allows users to create a group and invite up to 6 relatives and friends. Each member can automatically access the group’s game library and keep their progress in the archive.

Key Features and Limitations

While the Steam Friends & Family group offers many benefits, there are some limitations to be aware of:

• Multiplayer online cooperative games require all players to own the game to play together.
• Games that require third-party keys, accounts, or subscriptions cannot be shared.
• Games or content that are restricted by other friends and family or in your region cannot be shared.
• Games that don’t support the operating systems of other friends and family cannot be shared.

Membership and Management

The Steam Friends & Family group is intended for close relatives, and membership status is divided into “adult” and “child”. Adult users can manage the usage time of “child” accounts.

Adult members can leave a Friends and Family group at any time, but must wait one year from the time they joined the original group before they can create or join a new Friends and Family group.

Precautions and Restrictions

Valve emphasizes that Steam Friends and Family groups are intended for immediate family members. When major life events occur, family members can change, and players may need to join a new Steam Friends and Family group.

Players who use Steam frequently and go online at the same time may need to communicate with each other about usage time to avoid playing the same game.

Furthermore, not all games can be shared due to technical limitations. Games that require third-party keys, accounts, or subscriptions to play cannot be shared.

Troubleshooting

If a player is unable to join the Steam Friends & Family group, there could be the following three reasons:

• Activity on your account does not indicate that you are living with an existing member.
• Your account is still in the cool-down period from leaving your last Steam friends and family group.
• Steam Friends & Family Group quota is still cooling down after being taken up by other accounts.

The Steam Friends & Family group will be rolling out in September 2024. After logging into the Steam platform to upgrade, you can find Family and Friends in the settings in the top left corner of the Steam launcher.