Let’s make Steam Family Sharing work across borders!

[mýnx]

I just wanted to throw out a suggestion about Steam’s Family Sharing feature. It’s such a great way to share and enjoy games with the people we care about. Right now, though, Family Sharing is only available for people living in the same region, which I get is mainly to prevent misuse due to regional price differences.

But here’s the thing: a lot of us have family and close friends (some of them that I consider family too) living in different parts of the world. With the way things are these days, many of us have loved ones abroad, and it’d be awesome if we could share games with them too. For me, gaming has always been about connecting with people I care about, even if they’re halfway across the globe.

To Steam: Please reconsider making Family Sharing more open. I understand the need to keep things fair, but if there’s a way to set up a verification process or allow us to responsibly declare close friends and family for sharing across regions, it would mean so much. Our goal is not to exploit price differences but to genuinely connect with our loved ones through our shared love of gaming.

I’ve seen quite a few posts here on the forum about this, so I know I’m not alone. Just wanted to add my voice to the discussion and show that there’s a lot of genuine interest in cross-region Family Sharing.

Thanks to everyone for reading. Here’s hoping there’s a way to bring people together, even if they’re across the world!

[Dedmos]

+1

[Jugg]

I could not have said this better myself

[Lifeline]

+1

[Legolas]

I agree, they should look into this.

[japes.anim]

+1 … not all of us can be with our loved ones for work, school, immigration and other reasons, and this can be a way to connect

[Ascaraz]

+1

[yashi]

+1

[GronkJuice]

I know of 3 families where they married from two different countries. Both of them having such a hard time understanding the currencies that they just use their own. Hell one of my close friends married a German lady and they both have steam accounts and I give them slack about how they use the German and American currencies even through they both live in France.

According to my research I see that the last purchase is part of it, so would one need to change, or both change to french currencies since they live there? this system is either a low brow greed focus, or so ignorant of public affairs they either need to eliminate it or change the ones in charge of it.

[NemanjaS89]

+1

[mýnx]

Escrito originalmente por GronkJuice:

I know of 3 families where they married from two different countries. Both of them having such a hard time understanding the currencies that they just use their own. Hell one of my close friends married a German lady and they both have steam accounts and I give them slack about how they use the German and American currencies even through they both live in France.

According to my research I see that the last purchase is part of it, so would one need to change, or both change to french currencies since they live there? this system is either a low brow greed focus, or so ignorant of public affairs they either need to eliminate it or change the ones in charge of it.

You’re absolutely right—relying on things like last purchase data or regional currency feels like a clunky solution. It seems to hurt genuine users more than it stops people from abusing the system. Instead of these blanket restrictions, I wish Steam would come up with something smarter, like a verification process or a way to set up a trusted family network. That would actually reflect how families work in today’s world.

It really feels like a missed opportunity for Steam to bring people together. Gaming is such a great way to connect with the people we care about, and it’s frustrating to see these kinds of barriers. Hopefully, if enough of us speak up, they’ll consider making some changes.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts—it’s conversations like this that help keep the discussion alive!

[Pikachu]

I completely agree with you and agree with every word.
It’s sad to see a new function and immediately understand that the function, despite all its “external” beauty, “actually” does not allow really close people to unite around it (and in some cases, a real family).

But it seems to me that the problem is also in people writing on the topic of “Family Library” the phrases “add me to the family, I have 50 games” or “I’ll add to the family, there are games, write.”

In such a situation, it is not clear who to contact first - unscrupulous users or Steam developers.

Therefore, in any case, I wish the people in the topic a good morning/evening and a good day <3

[mýnx]

Escrito originalmente por Pikachu:

I completely agree with you and agree with every word.
It’s sad to see a new function and immediately understand that the function, despite all its “external” beauty, “actually” does not allow really close people to unite around it (and in some cases, a real family).

But it seems to me that the problem is also in people writing on the topic of “Family Library” the phrases “add me to the family, I have 50 games” or “I’ll add to the family, there are games, write.”

In such a situation, it is not clear who to contact first - unscrupulous users or Steam developers.

Therefore, in any case, I wish the people in the topic a good morning/evening and a good day <3

You bring up such a great point. It’s definitely disheartening when a feature like Family Sharing, which has so much potential, doesn’t actually bring people closer together in the way it should. Instead, it often feels like it’s designed to keep even genuine families and friends at a distance.

I completely get what you’re saying about those “add me for games” posts. They definitely don’t help and make it harder for Steam to trust its users. At the same time, I feel like there has to be a better way to handle things without treating everyone the same—after all, it’s frustrating when the actions of a few ruin the experience for everyone else.

Wishing you an awesome morning, evening, or whatever time of day it is where you are! Fingers crossed that these conversations can help push things in a better direction

[Pikachu]

Escrito originalmente por mýnx:

Escrito originalmente por Pikachu:

I completely agree with you and agree with every word.
It’s sad to see a new function and immediately understand that the function, despite all its “external” beauty, “actually” does not allow really close people to unite around it (and in some cases, a real family).

But it seems to me that the problem is also in people writing on the topic of “Family Library” the phrases “add me to the family, I have 50 games” or “I’ll add to the family, there are games, write.”

In such a situation, it is not clear who to contact first - unscrupulous users or Steam developers.

Therefore, in any case, I wish the people in the topic a good morning/evening and a good day <3

You bring up such a great point. It’s definitely disheartening when a feature like Family Sharing, which has so much potential, doesn’t actually bring people closer together in the way it should. Instead, it often feels like it’s designed to keep even genuine families and friends at a distance.

I completely get what you’re saying about those “add me for games” posts. They definitely don’t help and make it harder for Steam to trust its users. At the same time, I feel like there has to be a better way to handle things without treating everyone the same—after all, it’s frustrating when the actions of a few ruin the experience for everyone else.

Wishing you an awesome morning, evening, or whatever time of day it is where you are! Fingers crossed that these conversations can help push things in a better direction :luv:

[THE COMM4NDER]

+1

[johnyplayerspecial]

+1