The Steam Family Sharing Beta Has Begun!

In this story from 2013, our very own Rutledge looks at Steam Family Sharing and its beta period.


Published: September 26, 2013 2:38 PM /

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Stylized animals gathered in front of a large screen displaying Steam, intended to illustrate Steam Family Sharing

Quick! Check your inbox, because the Steam Family Sharing beta is up and running.

Valve sent invites to the first 1000 participants this week, and if you got an invite, all you have to do is go to this page to begin spreading the Steam love with your family, friends, and people whose giant Steam library you eventually want to share.

Valve, which is also in the process of releasing a brand new operating system, as well as "Steam Machines" and whatever comes in tomorrow's announcement, released information about the program a few weeks ago. Essentially, the all-new Steam feature allows Steam members to share their libraries with up to ten other users that they specify.

Team Fortress 2's Scout playing a game on an old-school PC to illustrate Steam Family Sharing

Those ten users can then earn their own achievements and cards, and can even save their progress with those games! Cool, right? The only downside is that only one user at a time can access each game, but it's only fair for it to be that way!

Valve has not released details on how long the beta will run, or when the fully-featured version will go live. If you want any information about what can be done with this wondrous program, check out the Steam Family Sharing FAQ.

What do you think about this new program? Ready to play games you don't own?

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Rutledge Daugette
| CEO and Founder

Rutledge Daugette is the Guides Editor & Founder of TechRaptor. Rutledge's degree in Game Programming ultimately led him to found the site in 2013, with… More about Rutledge