PC Gaming

I didn’t realize the new Steam family sharing was so detrimental to close ones away from each other. Their Guide & FAQ is clear with their intentions:

While we know that families come in many shapes and sizes, Steam Families is intended for a household of up to 6 close family members.

To that end, we expect the requirements for participating in a Steam Family to change over time as we monitor its usage and add requirements to keep usage in line with this intent.

Last line is pretty brutal. Apparently even family members living in the same country & different household might be in for a surprise eventually. That’s really saddening because at first glance this overhaul sounded amazing considering a single game was locked by play instead of the whole library.

Sad but understandable

The new family sharing is great. I am sad I cannot share it with family who lives 30 km away but in a different steam economic zone. I think on the whole it's a net positive though

Tip: You can share your library with someone by giving them your account sign in information, having them download what they want to play, and then having them turn their device's internet off. This will allow you to continue using your account as normal, and your friend will be able to play the games they downloaded at any time as long as steam is not allowed to connect to the internet. If it is connected, they can play the games as long as you are not playing something on a different device.

*Only share your account info with someone you absolutely trust. It's always a risk to share credentials but use your best judgement.

There needs to be some kind of gold buried somewhere in this new version otherwise I can only see it as another step on the enshittification carousel for an app that has slowly been getting worse over the years.