Steam Family (and Friends) Sharing

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**daedalus**

Source: http://store.steampowered.com/news/11436/

Steam Announces Family Sharing
Press Releases - Valve 16:22
Coming Soon: Players who share computers can also share their Steam games

September 11, 2013 – Steam Family Sharing, a new service feature that allows close friends and family members to share their libraries of Steam games, is coming to Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC, Mac, and Linux games and software. The feature will become available next week, in limited beta on Steam.

Steam Family Sharing is designed for close friends and family members to play one another's Steam games while each earning their own Steam achievements and storing their own saves and application data to the Steam cloud. It's all enabled by authorizing a shared computer.

“Our customers have expressed a desire to share their digital games among friends and family members, just as current retail games, books, DVDs, and other physical media can be shared,” explained Anna Sweet of Valve. “Family Sharing was created in direct response to these user requests.”

Once a device is authorized, the lender's library of Steam games becomes available for others on the machine to access, download, and play. Though simultaneous usage of an account’s library is not allowed, the lender may always access and play his games at any time. If he decides to start playing when a friend is borrowing one of his games, the friend will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

For more information about Steam Family Sharing and the beta program, please visit store.steampowered.com/sharing.

That's going to be huge.

**Palindrome**

Its more restrictive than simply giving your family your log in details though, which is that I do, so I am not convinced that it will be 'huge'. If the same account could be used to play 2 or more games simulataneously then it would be much more interesting.

Its a step in the right direction certainly but Steam is still quite a flawed platform when it comes to DRM and deeply flawed when it comes to consumer rights.

**Grundz**

Palindrome wrote:
Its more restrictive than simply giving your family your log in details though, which is that I do, so I am not convinced that it will be 'huge'. If the same account could be used to play 2 or more games simulataneously then it would be much more interesting.

By much more interesting I think you mean theft

**Compel**

Hopefully it's just a first toe in the water for something more open.

Admittedly I'm not sure what that 'more open' will be that would fit everyones interests. To an extent at least.

**daedalus**

Grundz wrote:
Palindrome wrote:
Its more restrictive than simply giving your family your log in details though, which is that I do, so I am not convinced that it will be 'huge'. If the same account could be used to play 2 or more games simulataneously then it would be much more interesting.

By much more interesting I think you mean theft

...for conventional theory on intellectual property.

**Palindrome**

Grundz wrote:

By much more interesting I think you mean theft

Its not theft in anyway, shape or form.

**Grundz**

Palindrome wrote:
Grundz wrote:

By much more interesting I think you mean theft

Its not theft in anyway, shape or form.

I'm all for anti-drm and all of that
But you bought one copy, they're giving you the ability to let anyone play it, at any time, but just one person at a time, exactly like you bought a physical copy and had one nintendo or whatever, I'm assuming that the original purchaser can play in offline mode and other people cannot which is their DRM control.
You didn't buy two copies for two people to play at the same time on different systems or whatever, you bought one nintendo cartridge, which fits in one nintendo at a time, if you bought one, but have two somehow, nixing any funky sale or something, the second one is stolen.

**Melissia**

daedalus wrote:
Once a device is authorized, the lender's library of Steam games becomes available for others on the machine to access, download, and play. Though simultaneous usage of an account’s library is not allowed, the lender may always access and play his games at any time. If he decides to start playing when a friend is borrowing one of his games, the friend will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.

Hm. Was hoping it'd let me play games at the same time as my nephew. I suppose that was too much to ask, however.

**daedalus**

Melissia wrote:
daedalus wrote:
Once a device is authorized, the lender's library of Steam games becomes available for others on the machine to access, download, and play. Though simultaneous usage of an account’s library is not allowed, the lender may always access and play his games at any time. If he decides to start playing when a friend is borrowing one of his games, the friend will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.
Hm. Was hoping it'd let me play games at the same time as my nephew. I suppose that was too much to ask, however.

Yeah, it basically gives you the equivalent of loaning a cartridge or game dvd to your friend and then instantly getting it back when you want it. Doesn't quite split it in two you can both play, but at least it allows that much more freedom than we had previously.

It's a step in the right direction, for sure, and probably a really smart one. I can't think of the number of games my friends have that I've been interested in but unwilling to shell the cash out without trying it first.

Of course, on the flipside, everyone I know being able to play through my copy of Remember Me might help take some of the sting off actually BUYING it.

**Palindrome**

Grundz wrote:
t
But you bought one copy, they're giving you the ability to let anyone play it, at any time, but just one person at a time.

Thats not what I am saying, there is no reason why other people on your family list can't play other games in your library. That way it would be something more than simply sharing your account details like most people do.

Its still noth theft in anyway.