Steam Game Sharing - limited beta starting next week

[Slothy]

The Escapist : News : Rumor: Game Sharing Coming To Steam (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125168-Rumor-Game-Sharing-Coming-To-Steam?utm_source=news&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all)

So it looks like there's some indication that game sharing might be a thing coming to Steam. Not going to lie, if this is true then that's damn cool. Just make sure Pike's not playing a game before "borrowing" it or you'll never get to play.

UPDATE: Steam Game Sharing Begins Limited Beta Soon | The Escapist (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127698-Steam-Game-Sharing-Begins-Limited-Beta-Soon?utm_source=latest&utm_medium=index_carousel&utm_campaign=all)

Not actually a rumour anymore. Limited Beta starts next week. Quick everyone, friend Pike so you can play her games.

[Bolivar]

It's funny, cause I was watching a Major Nelson interview (http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Angry-Joe-Major-Nelson-Explosive-Xbox-One-Interview-Decade-56783.html) where he was getting grilled on how Xbox One was (before today) supposed to have all kinds of crazy restrictions but none of the digital benefits Steam has, and his response was how Steam doesn't have the game sharing features the One will (would). Not really sure if this was a response to that.

Can't you just register your account onto as many devices as you want and play the library as long as no one is simultaneously logged in on another machine? Just seems unnecessary.

[Slothy]

You can do that, but based on the stuff people dug up it looks like you'd be able to share games you aren't playing to other people while you're still in your account playing something else. I could see this going farther than simply people in your family whose computers you install Steam on. I wouldn't trust a friend with my Steam account, but would I share a game they're interested in so they can try it out? Absolutely.

[Shauna]

Interesting. The world of digital media is changing. xD

[Pike]

Might be cool. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

[Slothy]

Bumping this since it's no longer a rumour as per the new link in the OP.

[NorthernChaosGod]

Am I friends with Pike yet? Definitely going to be friends with her. :D

EDIT: "~Yes I'm a robot who plays games, don't hit on me silly biologicals~ <3 "
You're so cute, Pikebot. xD

[Nicolas]

This could turn out to be a good idea to anybody with a friend that has a massive list of games or buys everything.

[Slothy]

Basically Pike.

[Jiro]

All we need to do is keep gifting her games and we're all winners

[Pike]

I like where this thread is going.

[Sephex]

I have been friends with Pike for awhile on Steam, and she already promised me to let her games collect virtual dust in my Library, so I beat you all to the punch.

[The Man]

So is your name on Steam Pikestaff like it is everywhere else, Pike? :monster:

I probably won't be fast enough to get into the limited beta :(

[Slothy]

So is your name on Steam Pikestaff like it is everywhere else, Pike? :monster:

I probably won't be fast enough to get into the limited beta :(

I posted the damn article here and I wasn't fast enough. I checked the steam group after reading the article and there were already 75,000 members.

[Skyblade]

So is your name on Steam Pikestaff like it is everywhere else, Pike? :monster:

I probably won't be fast enough to get into the limited beta :(

I posted the damn article here and I wasn't fast enough. I checked the steam group after reading the article and there were already 75,000 members.

Is that surprising? This sort of thing would go immediately as people found out.

Honestly, I don't see how anyone can really call this a bad thing. Giving even a temporary loan period for a game is going to make money. Sure, you'll get people who play a game, don't like it, and decide not to get it. But far more often than that, you'll get people who play a game for a week, get hooked, and wind up shelling out the extra fifteen to forty bucks for it.

Even on Steam, tons of games don't have demos. There are plenty of games that we hear about through word of mouth, but don't get to try. Games that we like the sound of, but never get around to trying. Etcetera. This will fix all of that.

But, lest we forget, it's going to be restrictive. It's a Steam system, so it will be heavily restricted. How long you can share out a game, how many you can share out at once, how many total, how often you can share an individual game, whether you can extend a share, etcetera. All these things are probably going to be restricted to some degree. And all in a way that will make Steam more money.

Steam is already a master of enticement and salesmanship. Now factor this in, and what they could do with it. Share sales, where you can buy a game that you had lent to you for a discounted price. Share credits, where Pike gets a little bit of store credit back if her friend buys a game Pike lent her. Share enticements, like a free weapon DLC or hat pack for both gamers if the player who was lent the game then purchases it. It's Steam. We'll get promotions like that, I'm sure, even if the details are up in the air.

I think this will be great for consumers by letting us share and play games we otherwise wouldn't get a chance to try, and I think it will be great for Steam because if they approach this at all intelligently, they stand to make a killing in additional sales.

[Pike]

whilst I do appreciate all the new Steam friends I haven't even signed up for this yet so don't expect me in this beta any time soon.

and yes, Aaron, my ID is pikestaff, although that's not my current display name (I know search gets finicky with that sometimes)

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I became Pike's steam friend before this was a thing. I think by just a few days, haha.

I think this will be a cool feature, but I probably won't participate much if at all. I have 3 friends on Steam I think, and I'm pretty sure each of them already own the games that I own that they'd be interested in. I don't have a huge Steam library. And I don't really want to borrow more games on there when I have hardly played any of the games I currently own. I'd do it to share with my roommate, but he has a Mac and the games he'd be interested in aren't compatible.

[Slothy]

whilst I do appreciate all the new Steam friends I haven't even signed up for this yet so don't expect me in this beta any time soon.

Irrelevant since the feature will almost certainly leave beta eventually. All we need to do is wait. :plotting:

[Nicolas]

whilst I do appreciate all the new Steam friends I haven't even signed up for this yet so don't expect me in this beta any time soon.

It's ok, Pike. I don't need to play most of your games. ;p

[Madame Adequate]

Coordinating with a bro or even girlfriend (Y'all super jelly :smug:) could lead to huge reductions in the number of games needed. Say there's two single-player games coming we both want; I buy Game A, Pike buys Game B, and when we're done we just switch off on accounts for awhile. :hyper:

[krissy]

steam box will be a day 1 purchase for me once it happens
just cause steams the best

i wont even use it
u guys can borrow it thru the attached mail service borrowing system

[Nicolas]

BUMP

Looks like Steam's Family Share is in available to anybody in their group now, which is awesome. Here's the link to their little user guide (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3784-QLBM-5731&l=english). Hopefully this should help out anybody who wants to try it. I know I'm excited to try it out a little.

[Slothy]

Well, I'm in then. Can't wait to try this out with some folks.

[Pike]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/Pikestaff/smiley/getin001_zpscd2687d5.gif

[Shauna]

Awesome. Will look into this later.

[Loony BoB]

I only have like seven games or so. I'm useless for this. However, perhaps it's time we all got really friendly with Rirse...

[Nicolas]

I have plenty of games to share. I was going to try it out with o_O, but that'll probably be when he's awake and I'm at home. Though, I do have a couple others I can try it out with later. ;o

EDIT: Tested it out and it's pretty neat. I'm kinda excited to try out a game or two. It seems like many, many games aren't part of the program due to their various reasons, but still awesome.

[Pike]

However, perhaps it's time we all got really friendly with Rirse...

Who is this individual and does he/she have more Steam games than I do? If that is the case then I smell a challenge. Next Steam sale they can bring it on.