Steam "Family Options" Now Available

[Omnomnick]

The Steam Family Options were released from beta earlier today and are now available for all users. The system, which stands as part of Valve's efforts to prepare the Steam client for the main release of Steam Machines and SteamOS, allows parents to directly manage and control the content their child can view while accessing Steam.

As discussed in the announcement post over on the Family Options Steam group, parents or siblings are now able to create a 4 digit PIN which, when activated, enters Steam into "Family View", a customisable mode which allows certain potentially unsuitable content and games to be censored. A newly updated section of the Steam Settings, known as "Family Options", provides individuals with the tools to select which areas of Steam will be accessible while in Family View. These options range from preventing access to the Steam Store, friend lists, chatting, and even specific game titles as selected by the parent.

Opting into Family View will also introduce a new subset to the account's game library, which is listed as "Family Games". This list features all of the permitted games selected during the previously mentioned set up process. For more information regarding Family Options, be sure to head on over to the announcement post on the Steam Group, which features plentiful content to keep you in the know.

 

[Eejit]

So this is the child-proofing part of it rather than family game sharing that was discussed a while back.

 

[Omnomnick]

So this is the child-proofing part of it rather than family game sharing that was discussed a while back.

If you look back at the original SteamOS page, this is the second of the four highlighted new Steam features. We still have In-home Streaming and the vague Music, TV, Movies, to go. As far as I know, In-Home Streaming is trucking along nicely but we still have very little info on the last feature.