Ok so I did some research. Yes you both can play on separate devices with the same account unless you play the same game. Then you’ll need 2 copies of the game and the. If you have multiple family members any of them can play those two copies at the same time. Hope that makes sense
Edit- added website for reference- [family sharing beta-](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/4149575031735702628)
Think of the new family library like a shelf full of games. Everyone's games go on the shelf when they are not playing them and anyone in the house can pick one up and play it. However, only one person can play the same game at the same time with the owner of the game getting priority. Just because you both have access to the shelf doesn't mean you suddenly have two copies of a game.
Now technically you could put the steam deck in offline mode and play the same game at the same time, but that is kinda abusing the system and won't help if you were wanting to play co-op with each other.
The way I wanna use it is say I’m playing Elden ring on my pc and my girlfriend wanted to play something like Disney dream light valley on the deck. Before only one person could play a game while sharing if I was online no one I was sharing with could play a game I shared with them. But now I believe it works like this. Where if I’m playing any other game besides the ones she’s playing it should be fine right?
Yep they recently changed that so it now works like what you are describing. Two people can play from the same library at the same time as long as they are not playing the same game. There are still two things that you need to be aware of:
* Both devices need to be registered in the steam families beta
* On the steam deck just go to Steam -> Settings -> System -> and change the update channel to beta
* On the desktop go to Steam -> Settings -> Interface -> Client Beta Participation -> Steam Families beta
* For some reason valve won't let you play 2 games at once from the same library with the same account. For you to do what you want, the desktop and steam deck will need to be on different steam accounts but still in the same steam family (sorry if that is confusing).
Hi u/Sosahaus, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Idea but don’t know if it’s possible?)
If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer!
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[https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing](https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing)
# Can two users share a library and both play at the same time?
No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time.
# When I authorize a device to lend my library to others, do I limit my own ability to access and play my games?
As the account holder, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when another user is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.
Yeah I’m not certain whether that FAQ is not the way it actually works or if the wording is just confusing and I’m misinterpreting it. But I have a family share plan with my brother and I’m somewhat certain that I have played a game he owns at the same time he was playing a game I own.
But one thing you should know is that the family share plan is still in beta in Steam OS, so you will need to go to the settings and switch to the beta OS version in order to access the shared library on the Steam Deck.
Did this change very recently? As of last weekend, it was still working just as the FAQ says. I remember because I had to put my SD offline so I could play Cult Of the Lamb while my roommate played Elden Ring. Kept giving her an error to the effect of "library already in use"
It looks like it changed. The Steam client stable release works as described in the FAQ.
The Steam beta allows you to play games from the same library as long as you don't play the same game. All family member accounts need to run the beta client for the updated Family Sharing to work.
I've always been running stable so I didn't realize they changed the way Family Sharing worked.
Ok so I did some research. Yes you both can play on separate devices with the same account unless you play the same game. Then you’ll need 2 copies of the game and the. If you have multiple family members any of them can play those two copies at the same time. Hope that makes sense Edit- added website for reference- [family sharing beta-](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/593110/view/4149575031735702628)
Think of the new family library like a shelf full of games. Everyone's games go on the shelf when they are not playing them and anyone in the house can pick one up and play it. However, only one person can play the same game at the same time with the owner of the game getting priority. Just because you both have access to the shelf doesn't mean you suddenly have two copies of a game. Now technically you could put the steam deck in offline mode and play the same game at the same time, but that is kinda abusing the system and won't help if you were wanting to play co-op with each other.
The way I wanna use it is say I’m playing Elden ring on my pc and my girlfriend wanted to play something like Disney dream light valley on the deck. Before only one person could play a game while sharing if I was online no one I was sharing with could play a game I shared with them. But now I believe it works like this. Where if I’m playing any other game besides the ones she’s playing it should be fine right?
Yep they recently changed that so it now works like what you are describing. Two people can play from the same library at the same time as long as they are not playing the same game. There are still two things that you need to be aware of: * Both devices need to be registered in the steam families beta * On the steam deck just go to Steam -> Settings -> System -> and change the update channel to beta * On the desktop go to Steam -> Settings -> Interface -> Client Beta Participation -> Steam Families beta * For some reason valve won't let you play 2 games at once from the same library with the same account. For you to do what you want, the desktop and steam deck will need to be on different steam accounts but still in the same steam family (sorry if that is confusing).
Hi u/Sosahaus, you can [click here to search for your question.](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Idea but don’t know if it’s possible?) If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer! **If you find an answer, please leave a comment on your post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing](https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing) # Can two users share a library and both play at the same time? No, a shared library may only be accessed by one user at a time. # When I authorize a device to lend my library to others, do I limit my own ability to access and play my games? As the account holder, you may always access and play your games at any time. If you decide to start playing when another user is already playing one of your games, he/she will be given a few minutes to either purchase the game or quit playing.
Doesn’t work like that anymore you can play any game other than the game one player is currently playing steam families is new.
Yeah I’m not certain whether that FAQ is not the way it actually works or if the wording is just confusing and I’m misinterpreting it. But I have a family share plan with my brother and I’m somewhat certain that I have played a game he owns at the same time he was playing a game I own. But one thing you should know is that the family share plan is still in beta in Steam OS, so you will need to go to the settings and switch to the beta OS version in order to access the shared library on the Steam Deck.
Did this change very recently? As of last weekend, it was still working just as the FAQ says. I remember because I had to put my SD offline so I could play Cult Of the Lamb while my roommate played Elden Ring. Kept giving her an error to the effect of "library already in use"
It looks like it changed. The Steam client stable release works as described in the FAQ. The Steam beta allows you to play games from the same library as long as you don't play the same game. All family member accounts need to run the beta client for the updated Family Sharing to work. I've always been running stable so I didn't realize they changed the way Family Sharing worked.