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Steam Family Sharing exits beta, now available to all
Following January's official release of Steam Family Options, Valve Software has removed Steam Family Sharing from its long beta test and made it available to all Steam users. As its name suggests, Steam Family Sharing allows those with blood ties (or those willing to lie about blood ties) to freely share access to retail PC, Mac and Linux game releases via Steam. "Players who share computers can now also share their available libraries with one another, each earning their own achievements and saving their own game progress to the Steam Cloud," reads Valve's official description of the service. "It's all enabled by authorizing shared computers and the familiar accounts that log into them." Full details on how to enable Steam Family Sharing can be found on the program's website. It's a quick process, which should leave you plenty of time to decide who is worthy of membership in your new virtual "family." [Image: Valve]
Steam Family Sharing program hits beta
Valve's ultra-convenient Steam Family Sharing program has just entered beta, with the first 1,000 participants receiving emails instructing them on how to get set up on the service. Steam Family Sharing allows up to 10 additional users to access any individual's Steam game library, though each game collection can only be accessed by a single user at a time. If you're interested in participating in the Family Sharing program, all you need to do is join the Steam Family Sharing group on Steam. Additional users will be chosen to help test the program as Valve moves the feature through the beta phase, so good luck!
Steam Family Sharing beta now live
Check your inboxes, because the beta for Steam's Family Sharing program is up and running. Valve sent invites to the first 1000 participants this week, and if you've got one all you have to do is follow these instructions to begin spreading the Steam love. Valve, a busy bee at the moment, unveiled Steam Family Sharing earlier this month. The service allows Steam members to share their libraries with up to 10 other users, each one able to earn their own achievements and save their own progress. Each Steam library can only be accessed by one user at a time, the owner having priority access at all times. There's no timeline for when the full program will run out for all, but in the meantime you can check out the Family Sharing FAQ for a fuller list of the can-dos and cannots.
Steam Family Sharing lets users share games with unique saves
Steam Family Sharing enables users to share their entire library of games with up to 10 other Steam members – Steam suggests "close friends and family members." Users request access to a friend's library, and if their computer is authorized, they have access to all of the games in that friend's library, complete with the ability to earn their own Steam achievements and save their own progress to the Steam Cloud. Steam Family Sharing will enter a limited beta next week; members can express interest in the beta by joining the Family Sharing group. Shared libraries may only be accessed by one user at a time, though the owner of the library will be given priority to access it at all times. If someone else is playing a game in that library, the friend will be granted a few minutes to either buy the game or quit out. Games that require a third-party key, account or subscription will not be eligible to share with Steam Family Sharing. Sharing includes access to the library owner's DLC, but friends will not be able to purchase DLC if they don't own the base game as well. Region restrictions on games remain in place. Read through the Steam Family Sharing FAQs here, and start making some more friends stat.
