Steam is not just a digital store and a platform from which we can access all the video games we buy. Sometimes Valve surprises us with very interesting functions that offer great facilities and more ways for users to take advantage of all kinds of benefits. That same thing has just happened once again with the newcomers family groups.
This long-awaited feature is one of the best that Steam has received to date and should be paid attention to by all those who have at some point decided to share their game libraries with other people. More than anything because its objective is to replace and further improve other services that already existed previously, such as the family loan and the family mode.
So that you are clear about what it consists of and what new features it brings, below you have: All the details of this function which can be accessed by anyone in a very simple way.
What are family groups?
Essentially, the purpose of Steam Groups is to offer a suite of new and existing family-related features, as well as provide a simple, single place for anyone to easily manage all of the games that family members can play and when they can play them. totally free.
Each of the groups can be formed by a total of six members: the administrator and a maximum of five additional members. Even though there is talk of families, it does not mean that it is exclusive to users who are related, so anyone can join them, such as a friend or a coworker. Whatever each person prefers.
Furthermore, its management is so easy that it will be possible to manage all of its options from anywhere that Steam is used. In this way, if we have a library made up of 100 video games and our friend’s collection contains 100 different titles, then we will be able to enjoy 200 games whenever we want and without having to pay anything in return for any of them. To give you a better idea, it is as if you lived in the same house and they were all physical
How to create or join a family group
The steps to follow when generate or join a family group The steps are very simple. Only those who are adults are the only ones who can choose one option or another, while minors will only have the option of joining a group that has already been created previously. Regardless of the case, you have to access the Steam store and click on the user profile tab, where a drop-down menu will appear with the “account details” option.
Once there, a menu will appear on the left side, but what matters is the “family mode management” section, where it will be possible to “join a family group” or “create a family group.” In the first of these sections, a list will appear with the invitations you have received and it will be up to you whether you want to accept or reject them, but the only way to access a group is after having been previously invited, nothing more.
Instead, those who prefer to create one will have to decide what name the group will have and then they will have before them all the options from which it will be possible. manage group characteristicsFor example, the first of them is to determine who will be the members of the group, being able to invite or expel whoever. In fact, this detail is very important because of the consequences that it entails.
Anyone can leave a group if they want to, but in that case They must wait exactly one yearfrom the moment you joined the last group, to join a new one or create a different one. Minors cannot leave on their own, but must be expelled by an adult. And this also implies that places cannot be filled instantly, but must wait a year to be replaced by another user.
The next menu option will display the library to determine What games will be shared with others?since you can select one that you only want for personal use. As for the rest, the rest of the sections are the requests, the playing time that each one has dedicated to the titles and the history of everything that has happened so far in the group to stay up to date.
Returning to the subject of the entrances and exits of each group, if one leaves on his own and decides to return, he can do so at any time, regardless of the time that has passed, although What you have to be careful of is the trapsbecause if a member is blocked for this reason the owner of the game will also be blocked.
How games are shared in the family group
Once the game libraries appear for the different users, it is time to decide what can be played. Any title that appears on the list will be available to select and enjoy without any problem, although it is important to highlight a number of nuances.
Previously you could play any game a friend owned, but if they wanted to play something from their own library, that’s when the conflict started. In that case, you’d get a message on screen telling you that you had five minutes before the game would end. However, this has now been changed so that you can play anything without any inconvenience. no matter who owns the game. Hence the idea of imagining it as a shelf full of physical products in the same house.
To explain it better, if someone in the group has a copy of Portal and starts playing, no one else can do so in the meantime, regardless of who they are. Therefore, this means that More than one copy will be needed so that more than one person can play the same game simultaneously. In this case, it will be possible to choose which copy to play and Steam will remember the decision the next time the game is started, but Valve warns that switching between copies may cause saved games to not work.
On the other hand, members will save their own game progress, get their own achievements, and access their own Workshop subscriptions. However, Games or content that meet the following criteria cannot be shared among accounts:
- All those games that require a key, an account or a subscription.
- All those games that are free-to-play, as well as their downloadable content.
- Games or DLC that are restricted in your region or another member’s region.
- Games that are not compatible with another member’s operating system.
- Games marked as private by the owner of the copy.
Added to this fact is that Companies themselves can also decide whether their products are compatible or not. with groups. Even so, Valve does not rule out that any of these requirements, as well as the number of members that can be part of a group, will end up changing in the future.
How parental controls work in family groups
Something we have previously detailed is that minors can also be part of family groups. Taking this fact into account, Valve has taken certain measures so that adults get greater parental control and thus be aware of any movement that takes place.
This way, adults will be able to select which games minors can play, decide which Steam features they have access to, set limits on screen time, view activity reports, and recover the account if they forget their password. Minors, meanwhile, will have the possibility of ask an adult to pay for your shopping cart and this can be accepted from the email or mobile application, so it will no longer be necessary to give the minor the credit card to purchase any product.
In short, all this means that minors are obliged to follow the guidelines which are established by adults and group administrators.
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