Hot on the heels of Microsoft’s infamous Xbox One policy reversal, the software giant took away the option of sharing one’s games and features across various gamertags on the same authorised console for up to 10 people, infuriating a lot of people. It was a great feature, but Microsoft felt they couldn’t go ahead with it. Well, Steam, the online game retail application, jumped right on that last week by introducing Steam Family Sharing.
Steam Family Sharing is supposed to work this way: You can share your library with a close friend or relative so that they can play a certain game. You can do this with up to 10 people. They get to access compatible games from your library on an authorised machine, and they can then basically play it all they want, and get achievements and trophies on their accounts, too.
However, no simultaneous logins are allowed. Once the owner logs in, the borrower gets a few minutes to get out, or must buy the game to continue. Pretty cool if you’re getting something you don’t own for free, right? Valve sure thinks so. While the idea of Steam Sharing isn’t perfect (and in a world on the verge of exploding with freeloaders, what is?), Valve is willing to give players something to legitimise the password-sharing, account-share business they’ve been in on for some years. It’s a good way of letting a friend play your games while maintaining direct control over when you play.
Steam Family Share is going on beta sometime this week. Initial entries are severely limited. Our prediction — the feature will launch sometime early in 2014.