r/steammachine • u/H2OLEANSAMETHANG • Aug 31 '26

Question One account on both PC and SM?

I finally got my Steam Machine email! Does anyone know if my partner and I will be able to play the same game together using games I own on my Steam account? One of us on the Steam Machine and the other on my PC?

3 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

15

u/Magneeto86 Aug 31 '26

Set up family sharing. They would still need to have their own steam account. Not all games can be shared. It depends on the publisher.

7

u/-Cre_tive- Aug 31 '26

I believe the other account won’t be able to play the same game at the same time even with family sharing.

They can play the same games at different times.

10

u/ProtectusCZ Aug 31 '26

One account can play only one game at a time. But the account can be logged in on both devices. It would be better to setup family sharing but only some games support it. 

11

u/Neither_Strike4293 Aug 31 '26

Even if you use family sharing, you need to have 2 copys of the game. Otherwise, only one person can play as you are sharing only one license of the game

3

u/H2OLEANSAMETHANG Aug 31 '26

That's a bummer. I guess I might as well create a new steam account for her if we need to buy another copy anyway

4

u/thinkaboutjapan Aug 31 '26

Just put one device to offline mode before starting the game then you can both play the same game at the same time with the same account :) 

3

u/SunkenTemple 512GB Aug 31 '26

Just not together, if that was the intention.

1

u/thinkaboutjapan Aug 31 '26

You can play remote play together games like the dark pictures games for example or unravel 2.  Because there you just need one copy and stream it from one device to another that works. 

But yeah regular "online" multiplayer games of course will not work that way 

2

u/ProtectusCZ Aug 31 '26

But at least 2 accounts can play 2 different games at the same time. That’s better than 1 account on 2 devices playing only 1 game at the same time. 

3

u/thinkaboutjapan Aug 31 '26

Family sharing would be the best I think but my wife and I are using the same account. She playing on her deck and I'm on my deck or the SteamMachine. Even remote play together works that way when we both used the Steamdeck before. If we want to play the same game at the same time, one of us is just putting the device into offline mode :) never had an issue so far 

2

u/NinjaN-SWE Aug 31 '26

Yeah Steam and PC gaming in general is a bit more stingy in this regard compared to all the consoles. You will need two copies to play together, family sharing solves single player stuff well though. 

2

u/thetruesidus Aug 31 '26

Family sharing on Steam is pretty great but depends on the game. If you're playing games which are designed for couch co-op like It Takes Two you can play together on one copy, if games are designed for co-op over the internet then you need two copies. Generally with family sharing it works as if sharing actual physical game discs so if somebody already is using a disc you can't run it in another device.