With the introduction of Steam Families it is incredibly easy to share your games on Steam with friends and family. In order to share games you will need to create a family. When in a family all eligible games are shared between the members. Additionally, the amount of copies of a game is also shared. This means that if 3 members in your Steam family own a specific game, then any 3 family members can play that game at any given time.
1. Open the Steam settings.
2. Go to Interface.
3. Set Client Beta Participation to Steam Families Beta.
4. Click Restart Now.
5. Select your Profile and select Account Details.
6. Go to Family Management, then select Create a Family.
7. Name your family then click the Create button.
8. Click the Invite a Member button.
9. Select Search friend list, then invite one of your Steam friends.
10. Choose to invite the person as an Adult or Child. Selecting child will enable parental controls and add restrictions to the invited account.
11. Click the Invite button.
12. Sign in to the invited account. This can be done on the same PC or another in your household.
13. Enable the Steam Families Beta if it isn’t already.
14. Select your profile and open the Account Details.
15. Go to Family Management.
16. Select Join a Family.
17. Click the Accept button.
18. Click Confirm, then validate via your account email.
How to See Steam Family Library
You can check your Steam family library by heading to the Family Management page on your Steam account. Here you will see the Library option, where all of the families Steam games will be displayed. The games eligible to be shared will be shown at the top, while ineligible games are shown below.
How Many People Can Play a Shared Steam Game?
The amount of people that can play a shared Steam game depends on the amount of copies the family owns. If only one copy of a game is owned between all the family members, then only one person can play that game at any given time. However, if you have multiple copies of a game in your family, then multiple people will be able to play the game.
If you want to play shared Steam games with another person then your family will need to have multiple copies of that game. For example, if your Steam family has 3 copies of a game, then any 3 family members can play that specific game at one time.
Can You Play with Someone When Sharing a Steam Game?
You can play shared games with someone on Steam provided your Steam family has more than one copy of the game. If the Steam family you both belong to only has one copy of the game then only one person can play. This prevents multiple people playing a game together if only one of them owns the game.
