Can you play together with Steam Family Sharing?
No.
A copy can only be in use by one family member at a time, so two people playing the same game together need two copies in the family.
The catch: it's built for one household, not for friends who live somewhere else.
Who can join a Steam family?
Up to 6 people, each on their own Steam account. Steam won't add an account whose activity doesn't show it lives with the other members, and it recommends inviting only trusted people from your household.
Which games can you share with Steam Family Sharing?
Can be shared
Games with the Family Sharing tag
It shows in the details on the game's store page. Portal 2, Stardew Valley and Terraria all carried it.
Can't be shared
- Games that need another key, account or subscription
- Free-to-play games and their DLC
- Content restricted in either account's region
- Games that don't run on the other person's system
- Games the publisher opted out
- Games the owner set to private
Publishers can opt a game out at any time, so the tag on the store page is the check that counts.
Do you get the DLC with Steam Family Sharing?
You get the DLC the owner of that copy has, if the publisher marked it shareable.
- In useTwo members own the game with different DLC, and the copy you want is busy
- First choiceAnother copy with identical DLC
- If there isn't oneA copy with different DLC, with a warning that your saves may not work with it
How can two people play one copy together?
With friends in other homes, Remote Play Together or a game with a Friend's Pass. In the same room, a game that plays on one screen.
Only the host owns the game. Friends join over the internet from their own PC, and more than four fit on fast connections.
The owner invites a friend who downloads a free pass. Only some games have one, like It Takes Two and Split Fiction. All Friend's Pass games
Nobody buys anything. They can't be family-shared, and they don't need to be. Free multiplayer games
How do you start Remote Play Together on Steam?
- 1HostStarts the game on their PC
- 2HostOpens the Steam overlay with Shift+Tab
- 3HostRight-clicks the friend and picks Remote Play Together
- 4FriendAccepts the invite and plays with their own controller
It works with local multiplayer games, even ones with no online mode, when the game carries the Remote Play Together tag. Portal 2 and Stardew Valley have it, and Terraria doesn't.
Other questions
Is Steam Family Sharing free?
Steam lists no fee for creating or joining a family. Each member still pays for their own games, and the library you can reach is whatever the others have bought.
Can I play while the owner plays something else?
Yes. Only the game they have open is locked, and Steam shows who is playing it. The rest of their library stays available.
Whose account gets the achievements?
Yours. Achievements stay with the player, not with the owner of the copy.
Can someone else's cheating hurt my account?
Yes. If a member cheats in a game from your library, Steam can revoke your family privileges and your account may get a VAC ban.
Why can't someone join my Steam family?
Steam gives three reasons: the account's activity doesn't show it belongs to the same household, it's still in the cooldown from a previous family, or the family's slots are in cooldown. Adults who leave a family wait a year to join another, and the empty slot has its own one-year cooldown.
Is Steam Families the same as Family Sharing?
Steam Families replaced the old Family Sharing in September 2024.
What does the host need for Remote Play Together?
The host's PC streams video to everyone else, so Steam recommends a quad-core CPU and a wired connection on it.