All Discussions > Steam Forums > Help and Tips > Topic Details
76561199523306911 10 Sep @ 12:51am
Family Account
Hi,
I have a "main" account and one account I use at the kids computer.
My kids are getting into an age where they start to want to play videogames.
I want them to be able to join the family I created but I am unable to join this account to the family because of mismatching store region (my store region is switzerland, the kids store region is portugal). I assume I created the account when we lived in Portugal.

Now I don't even actually need to change their store region as they will not be buying games...
I only need to change their region to be able to join the family.

The help page says that I need to make a purchase in that new country (switzerland) and if I cannot, I need to contact customer support.
Customer support just says I need to make a purchase...
I don't plan to buy anything though, I just want them to be in my family account.
Unfortunately Steam Customer Support is not helpful at all and actually sounds like an AI and not a real person.

Does anyone know how to "circumvent" this requirement or get in touch with some helpful customer service?
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Showing 1-10 of 10 comments
✨Saint✨ 10 Sep @ 12:57am 
This should help you out:

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/discussions/forum/1/4755326933236074443/

:saint:
#1
Marazipan 10 Sep @ 1:13am 
The short answer is no you can't circumvent the fact you need to be in the same region to family share. They deliberately stopped people being able to do this when they replaced the old family sharing system.
#2
Ogami 10 Sep @ 1:30am 
There is nothing to circumvent. Everyone in a Steam Family has to be in the same Steam Store region. Absolutely no way around it. The entire system is designed around curbing region hopping which was a big problem for Steam in the past.
So you either make a onetime purchase for a few cents on that account ( i dont really see the problem) or you cant invite that account into your Steam Family.
That are your choices.
#3
Questionario 10 Sep @ 4:41am 
why dont they just manually add the account to the family or manually place the account into the family share? I don't see an issue with moving an account to a more expensive store region?
You shouldn't be forced to buy something for that
some proof of residence or just a free credit card verification should be enough

I also don't understand what this has to do with region hopping if I want my kids account joined into the family share, history should show that these two accounts are always coming with the same IP (same apartment, just two different computers)
#4
nullable 10 Sep @ 5:02am 
Valve is not responsible fpr OPs decisions or account locations. Valve has rules in place for how and when accounts can change regions. "I don't wanna." Isn't sufficient reason to ignore that.
#5
Questionario 10 Sep @ 5:27am 
But the combination of requiring the same country and changing the country requiring a purchase is not correct.
A proof of residence and copy of ID should be sufficient enough.
#6
nullable 10 Sep @ 5:56am 
Originally posted by Questionario:
But the combination of requiring the same country and changing the country requiring a purchase is not correct.
A proof of residence and copy of ID should be sufficient enough.

Maybe it is for your digital distribution system, but we're not using yours. And Valve has already defined the process they prefer. I'm not saying you're wrong, or that your arguments are crazy or unreasonable. But if Valve wanted to do things that way, they would. And if they don't, they won't.

If OP is unwilling to spend money on the child account, make a new account for the children. If the child account has games OP wants to access via family share, then they'll have to do Valve's process on Valve's system. And if the outcome isn't worth spending a cent, then arguably the OP doesn't really care. There's only so much Valve needs to worry over people unwilling to spend money on the store.

Again Valve isn't responsible for OP's particular circumstances. Valve doesn't know if OP is telling the truth. Valve requirements for region changing aren't unreasonable. So again I'll say, "I don't wanna", may not be a compelling reasons for Valve to make an exception.
Last edited by nullable; 10 Sep @ 5:56am
#7
Questionario 10 Sep @ 6:21am 
I only expressed that I don't think the way Steam/Valve handles this, is customer oriented.
This is why I still prefer to buy games on consoles, Steam support is mediocre with repeating default responses sounding like AI.
PS: I did purchase something so my kids can play the games I have in my library but I still don't think that it should be handled like that.
#8
nullable 10 Sep @ 6:46am 
Originally posted by Questionario:
I only expressed that I don't think the way Steam/Valve handles this, is customer oriented.
This is why I still prefer to buy games on consoles, Steam support is mediocre with repeating default responses sounding like AI.
PS: I did purchase something so my kids can play the games I have in my library but I still don't think that it should be handled like that.

Well, you'd hardly be the first user to have lots of opinions because they don't like being told no.
#9
Questionario 10 Sep @ 7:10am 
Is everything alright? Your tone comes across as a bit confrontational.
I am not trying to make you adopt my perspective.

Let us keep this respectful and civil, without any trolling.
If you're unable to engage in that manner, please feel free to refrain from commenting further.

If customers don't voice their opinions, nothing will ever improve.
#10
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All Discussions > Steam Forums > Help and Tips > Topic Details
Date Posted: 10 Sep @ 12:51am
Posts: 10
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