Valve has just announced a brand new feature called Steam Families, which aims to make sharing games, monitoring children’s activities, and making purchases on Steam easier than ever.
Currently in beta, Steam Families will replace both Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View. This new feature allows players to create a Steam Family group for up to six members, which can be managed from the Steam client, a mobile device, or a web browser.
Family members can share each other’s games, but they won’t be able to play the same game at the same time unless they own multiple copies. Each player can create their own saved games, earn achievements, and access workshop files.
Valve notes that developers have the option to opt out of Family Sharing for their games at any time. A list of games that currently support this feature can be found on the Steam website.
Parental controls are also a key part of Steam Families, allowing adults in the group to set limits on what and when children can play games. Parents can monitor their children’s activities, as well as restrict access to shopping and social features. There is also a new payment option where a child account can request an adult in the family group to purchase items in their shopping cart.
To try out Steam Families, players will need to opt into the Steam Family Beta. More information can be found in the official FAQ on the Steam website.
In other news, Steam recently hit an all-time record of over 36.29 million concurrent players on Sunday. Valve also launched the Spring Sale last week, with discounts on thousands of games running until March 21.
