Steam may let users share games in future

Valve may let Steam users share their games through the digital distribution platform in future.

As reported by Kotaku, an update in the Steam client beta has added new lines of code referencing shared licences and a shared game library.

The code suggests that users will be able to share games with friends, but would not be able to play these titles at the same time. The ‘borrower’ would be sent a message to leave a game session if the original owner attempts to access the same title.

You can read the lines of code below:

"SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicense_Title" "Shared game library"

"SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_OwnerText" "Just so you know, your games are currently in use by %borrower%. Playing now will send %borrower% a notice that it’s time to quit."

"SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_BorrowerText" "This shared game is currently unavailable. Please try again later or buy this game for your own library."

Valve has yet to comment on the matter, and it is currently unclear whether, if the scheme is rolled out, if it would be mandatory for developers and publishers to participate.