14 DAY TRIAL // The development team at Valve working on the Steam digital distribution service announces that it is now requiring the primary account holder to directly identify all potential users of the Family Sharing feature in order to reduce the risk of abuse.
The system now asks all those who want access to the library of one user to be identified via a two-factor process by the proprietary of the account.
The company states in an official update on the Steam Family Sharing hub that, “This allows lenders more control while reducing the risk of VAC or other bans resulting from an unknown user accessing and abusing shared games on an authorized machine.”
Valve adds, “Any of these ten users may log into any of your ten authorized machines to access and play your shared games. Additionally, users may still request access to your shared library by sending you a request from any machine where you've installed games.”
The entire feature is currently in closed beta testing and the company is working to eliminate any security issues that it might create, while also making the entire concept easy to understand and use.
Family Sharing will probably be one of the main features of the coming Steam OS and will play a central role on the hardware that the company is creating alongside its partners.
The digital distribution service from Valve is the biggest on the PC and continues to add users at a fast pace, driven by its huge sales and the new features that are constantly being delivered.
Valve has also been over serious about abuse over the years and the two-way authorization process for Family Sharing shows that it continues to remain focused on making sure that the main account holders are not affected by wayward actions from their friends or their family.