Valve officially announced Steam Families earlier this week for the Steam Beta Client. According to Valve, Steam Families is a collection of “family-related features” that replaces both Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View.
Steam users can now invite up to 5 people for their Steam Family. The Steam Family feature allows those in one to gain access to sharable games in each others library called a Family Library.
Users can choose from two different roles, Adult or Child. Adults have the most control over Steam Family feature, while Child users have to abide by parental controls.
Valve noted that the Parental Controls were revamped, and now will let Adult users set limits on game access and the duration of time underage users can play games. what and controls that allow parents to set limits on what and when children play games on Steam and even monitor game purchasing from Child users.
As for which games are eligible for Steam Family, it all depends on the game’s developer. While there is no official list, Valve noted that games with “technical limitations” including games that use “additional third-party key, account, or subscription” would not be playable.
Regardless, the latest version of Steam Family is far from finalized. There will likely be more work done on the feature following the conclusion of this beta period, following feedback from users.
Those that are interested in beta testing the new Steam Family feature can do so now. For more information, head over to the official FAQ on the Steam website.