Steam's New Family Sharing and Parental Controls System
Gaming just got a whole lot better for families with Steam's latest update. The popular gaming platform has introduced Steam Families, a new system that allows up to six members to share their full game libraries with each other, except for titles where developers have opted out.
One of the biggest perks of Steam Families is the ability to play games from the same library at the same time. For instance, one family member can play "Cyberpunk 2077" while another plays "Warzone" simultaneously. If there are two copies of "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" in the shared library, family members can even play together.
Each user will have their own save files, earn achievements, access workshop files and more, giving them a sense of independence on the platform. However, Steam has not overlooked the need for parental controls.
Enhanced Parental Controls for a Safe Gaming Environment
Steam Families comes with improved parental controls, allowing adults to manage member invites and apply restrictions to child accounts. Adults can control game access, restrict access to the Steam Store, Friends Chat, and Community, set playtime limits, and recover lost passwords for child accounts.
Additionally, purchasing games for kids has been made simpler. Children can now add games to their cart and request an adult to pay for it, which the adult can then approve or deny through their email or mobile device.
Farewell to the Old, Hello to the New
The new Steam Families system marks the end of the older Family Sharing feature, which is set to be retired. Steam clarifies that while most users will not be affected, some might miss the ability to share libraries across different locations.
While Steam has not stated that the new system is limited to one ISP, the language used suggests that it may be restricted to one household, similar to Netflix.
Overall, Steam's update is a welcome change for many, offering a more inclusive gaming experience for families, while also addressing safety concerns with robust parental controls. However, it remains to be seen if all users will be satisfied with these changes in the long run.
