Today, Steam launched Steam Families, a review of your family sharing system. The new system removes limits on the number of people who can play games from a library, makes it easier to purchase games for your kids, and adds new parental controls and sharing options.
Previously, you needed to use two different systems: Family Sharing and Family View, if you wanted to share your library but limit the games your kids could play. Additionally, under the old approach, only one person at a time could play a game from another person's library. Now, to use the Steam example, if you are playing your copy of Portal 2 and someone else wants to play Half life from your library, okay. They will only start if you start Portal 2 while playing it from your library. That's right, they can't have their cake and eat it too. (I hope this Portal the reference is satisfactory.)
You'll need to be in the beta program to try it out, which you can do by visiting Settings > Dashboard > Customer Beta Participation and selecting “Steam Family Beta.” Then, to create a family, go to the Store page, click on your account, and then click Account Details > Family Management > Create a Family.
Accounts can share a library with five other family members, as before, but there are no mentioned limits on the number of devices you can authorize. (Previously it was limited to 10). Offline play is now also supported, whereas the previous sharing scheme required you to be online to play games from someone else's library.
Parenting is easier, too, and not just because you can now manage kids' access to specific games, monitor their play time, and set time-based restrictions. You no longer have to go through the hassle of purchasing a gift card or handing over your credit card to buy your child a game – simply approve their request for a game and your account will be charged.
A note of caution, however: the new system is region-locked, so if you've been sharing with someone in another country, you may not be able to continue doing so. And if someone leaves your family, they won't be able to join or start another one for a full year.
Steam says developers must approve their titles for family sharing, while others, such as free games or those that require third-party keys, accounts, or subscriptions, cannot be shared.
