Steam Families Launched Streamlining Game Sharing and Parental Controls

Steam has launched Steam Families, a revamp of its family-sharing system. The new system eliminates the limit on the number of people who can play games from one library, simplifies the process of buying games for children, and introduces new parental controls and sharing options. Previously, only one person could play a game from another’s library at a time. Now, multiple users can play different games from the same library simultaneously. The new system also supports offline play, which was not possible with the previous sharing scheme. Additionally, parents can now manage their children’s access to specific games, monitor their playtime, and set time-based restrictions. However, the new system is region-locked, and if a user leaves a family, they cannot join or start another one for a full year.