Steam's new system of family sharing will lock your slot for a whole year if you are kicked out. So, you'd better work together.

Steam's Family Sharing feature has been replaced by the new Steam Families, which was released this week after a successful beta. The new system is the same as the old, but it has new features, and some new restrictions, such as a region restriction.

Steam Family allows up to six members. All games in each member's library are shared (except those marked as "private" by the owner in the properties menu; but I would test this feature to be sure). One person can only play a copy of a given game at a single time. Cloud saves, Steam Workshop installations, and achievements are all independent. Adults in the group can now decide what games their children can play. There's also an easy way for adults to buy games for their kids through Steam Family.

There are a number of rules and conditions that you should also consider. You can't switch between Steam Families as much as you like. You can only start or join a Family if you have been in your previous Family for at least one year. Each of the six slots in a Steam Family has a "cooldown period" of one year. This means that if someone leaves a slot, you can't immediately fill it with someone else.

The FAQ does not mention this, but we have noticed that the region restriction in the Families beta is still in place. PC Gamer's attempt to cross national borders and share games between the UK and Spain didn't work. Steam Family can be set up with people living in different homes in the same area, but Valve prefers that sharing is limited to "a family."

Valve says that while families can come in all shapes and sizes, Steam Families was designed for a household with up to six close family members. "To that end we may adjust requirements for joining a Steam Family over time as we monitor usage to keep usage in line."

The vague warning about things changing if we don't stay with "close family members" within "a household" is unlikely to stop anyone from creating Families to connect with their Discord friends. The noncommittal tone here could be a way to avoid scaring developers, rather than to implement more technical restrictions in order to curb unintended usage.

Other Steam Families Considerations

• If you are banned for playing a game that you own and someone in your family is banned, you will be banned as well. Make sure your little brother knows his manners.
• You can play online games in offline mode.
• Developers can opt out of making their DLC and games shareable.
• Some games are not available because they require third party accounts.

Depending on the level and severity of dysfunction in your home, this detail may or may not be important: "Adult members of the family can kick out any family member."

I have no doubt "one more thing and you're out" will be used to end arguments in the very near term, if not already. The one-year cooling off period for slots could ruin relationships for decades.

The Steam Families Support page includes instructions on how to set up a Steam Family and a FAQ with more details.