After a stint in beta, Valve has opened up Steam Families to the wider public.
Steam Families replaces both Steam Family Sharing and Steam Family View, giving users a one stop shop to manage who can access what and when.
Up to five family members can be added to a user’s Steam Family account, making for a total group of six maximum. These members can be managed from the Steam Client, mobile device or browser. Alas, it can’t help you manage your children enough to get them to brush their teeth before bed, though.
Once a family group has been set up, members will then get access to the following features:
Family SharingParental ControlsChild Purchase Requests
“When you join a Steam Family, you automatically gain access to the shareable games that your family members own and they will also be able to access the shareable titles in your library,” Valve explained. “The next time you log in to Steam, this new ‘family library’ will appear in the left column as a subsection of your games list. You maintain ownership of your current titles and when you purchase a new game it will still show up in your collection.”