Question regarding kicking/leaving

[Torde]

So I am part of a family that is full of 6 people right now.
I want to leave and make a new family so I can invite an alt acc in to my family to play some games on my acc on fresh saves (Things like Death Stranding, Resi 5.. things that I cant easily reset and play a 100% vanilla fresh save for), or want to remove someone from the family however how exactly does the penalty system work? Seem to recall it being some kind of year long ban for joining new families.. Does that count if you get kicked instead of leaving? Does that stop you making a new family to begin with instead of just joining? What are the specifics around this system?

I get why its limited to just 6 people and why, assuming I heard right about the penalty, that is in place and is so strict.. but at the same time it just seems a little excessive and heavy handed idk.

[Anonymous Helper]

If an account leaves a Steam Family for any reason (voluntary or being kicked out), that account can not join a new Steam Family for 1 year from the moment they joined their previous family. They can however rejoin their previous steam family immediately if invited. Person leaving also can not make new family until the cool down period is over.

The vacated slot can also not be used by anyone other than the previous owner until 1 year has passed from the time they joined.

Reason for the restriction is that Steam Family is intended solely for families living in same household, not friends, acquaintances, strangers, cousins, uncles or anyone else that does not live permanently in same residence. As leaving real family is rare and there is almost never need to jump between real families, the restriction is completely fair for it's intended use.

Originally posted by Torde:

it just seems a little excessive and heavy handed idk.

It has to be to try to reduce abuse. If you want to blame anyone, blame the abuser that previously abused the system for their own benefit. Every restriction on Steam was implemented because the system was abused one way or another. Abusers are the reason we can't have good things.

[Anonymous Helper]

https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/054C-3167-DD7F-49D4

Who can be in a Steam Family?

While we know that families come in many shapes and sizes, Steam Families is intended for a household of up to 6 close family members.

To that end, we expect the requirements for participating in a Steam Family to change over time as we monitor its usage and add requirements to keep usage in line with this intent.


Can I leave a Steam Family?

Steam Families are intended to contain your immediate family. As who you include in your immediate family can change over time due to growing up, marriage or other events, it is understandable that some day you may need to change to a new Steam Family. Adults can leave a family at any time, however, they will need to wait 1 year from when they joined the previous family to create or join a new family.

Children in a Steam Family cannot leave the family themselves and must be removed by an adult in the family or by Steam Support.

As it is rare that a family member leaves the family, each Steam Family slot has a cooldown of one year before a new member can occupy that slot.

I accidentally left my Steam Family! Do I have to wait a year to rejoin?

No. You can always rejoin the last Steam Family that you were a member of without waiting, provided that it has less than 6 members when you try.

Can I be kicked out of a Steam Family?

Yes, adult family members can kick any family member out of the Steam Family.

[Torde]

Originally posted by Anonymous Helper:

If an account leaves a Steam Family for any reason (voluntary or being kicked out), that account can not join a new Steam Family for 1 year from the moment they joined their previous family.

Regarding this - You say from the moment they joined the family so if I have this right then if I had joined a family exactly 1 year ago yesterday then today I left, I would be able to join a new one instantly, however the slot I had taken up in previous family would be blocked up for one year? Is that right?

Also yeah I fully get why it is how it is.. And how it isnt intended to be used by anyone other than families but yeah not entirely knowing the system when first putting it together I thought it was just an improved version of the old one.. may have invited some friends and now in a bit of a tricky spot lmao wanting to remove them but not ♥♥♥♥ them over being locked out of using the system.

[Anonymous Helper]

Originally posted by Torde:

Regarding this - You say from the moment they joined the family so if I have this right then if I had joined a family exactly 1 year ago yesterday then today I left, I would be able to join a new one instantly, however the slot I had taken up in previous family would be blocked up for one year? Is that right?

From here it seems the slot cool down is also calculated from moment the account joined:

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamfamilies/discussions/0/508449585248644691/

The slot can't be filled for another 7 weeks despite cool down on account wanting to join has already expired. The system seem to tell exactly when slot is usable when you try to invite someone like this:

"You cannot invite new members to your family group until Thursday, March 20, 2025."

[DrakkonFyre]

Originally posted by Anonymous Helper:

Originally posted by Torde:

Regarding this - You say from the moment they joined the family so if I have this right then if I had joined a family exactly 1 year ago yesterday then today I left, I would be able to join a new one instantly, however the slot I had taken up in previous family would be blocked up for one year? Is that right?

From here it seems the slot cool down is also calculated from moment the account joined:

https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamfamilies/discussions/0/508449585248644691/

The slot can't be filled for another 7 weeks despite cool down on account wanting to join has already expired. The system seem to tell exactly when slot is usable when you try to invite someone like this:

"You cannot invite new members to your family group until Thursday, March 20, 2025."

Since I created my Steam family back in March of last year, if I leave today, I should be able to join a different family now?

[Ogami]

Originally posted by DrakkonFyre:

Since I created my Steam family back in March of last year, if I leave today, I should be able to join a different family now?

Yup. the 1 year cooldown starts when you join/create a family (with at least 1 other member).