Between this and the GOG.com #NoDRM sale, things just got very interesting in the PC/MAC space.
NeoGAF investigators have uncovered references to a STEAM Game Sharing feature in the Client Code.
The client code contains a few choice lines that suggest users will be able to share their games library, similar to what Microsoft have announced for the Xbox One.
See what you make of this…
- “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.”
It seems a pretty sure thing that Valve will be able to let users share a game with at least one of their Steam friends.
If the code is to be believed, if a Steam game owner attempts to play a game that one of their ‘borrowers’ is checking out, a timer and message will be sent to the lender, notifying them that they need to leave the game.
It also appears that if a borrower wants to access a game that the original user is playing, they’ll receive a message telling them that the game is unavailable and that they either need to buy the game themselves or try again later.
How many sharers will be allowed per library? That’s unknown. It’s also unknown if this will launch ahead of Xbox One so that Valve can be ahead of the curve on this and set the trend.
Either way, this is extremely exciting news for Steam owners and something we’ll surely hear more about in the coming weeks.
(Source: NeoGAF)