Valve has just introduced a beta for its new Steam Families plan, which replaces both Steam Family and Steam Family View.
- READ MORE: The best Steam games to play in 2024
Steam Families takes some elements of Family and Family View and merges them into one system. With Families, people will be able to link up to six accounts, with those marked as adults able to set limits on the playtime and which games children have access to.
As well as parental control, all accounts will have access to everyone else’s game library. As long as the game you want to play isn’t currently being used by another account, you can access it. However, if two or more people want to play the same title, you’ll need multiple copies.
Adult accounts will also have access to playtime reports from child accounts, and they can restrict access to the Steam store, Community, or friends chat. They can approve or deny requests from child accounts to get more playtime and temporary or permanent feature access, and even approve or deny entire shopping baskets. This last feature means parents no longer have to buy games for their kids, they can simply approve a shopping cart via mobile, email, or PC.
Currently, Steam Families is in beta. You can access it by clicking on Steam in the upper left corner, settings, interface, and then selecting Steam Families Beta from the client beta participation dropdown menu.
Steam Families is limited to six family members, so be prepared to choose which kids you love most if your family is bigger than that. You can add up to that limit as quickly as you like, but if you need to remove an account for any reason, you have to wait one year before you can refill their slot, and that account will have to wait one year before it can join a new family.
