Originally posted by BoubouV12:

Family Sharing is a half-scam

Steam Family Sharing is disappointing in practice. Shared games leave almost no trace on your profile: no achievements, no playtime, no progress history. It's as if you never played.

Furthermore, if Family Sharing is removed, the shared game disappears completely from your account, along with all associated data. Valve has created a system where your progress isn't truly saved, which severely limits the value of sharing and can frustrate players.

It's called Steam Families now.

But the data is still on your account, just not visible until you either join another Family Group with those games or purchase those games.

To be clear, all stats remain on your account.

It's the same when you refund a game, play a free weekend or use the "permanently remove' function through support.

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

Steam Family Sharing is disappointing in practice. Shared games leave almost no trace on your profile: no achievements, no playtime, no progress history. It's as if you never played.

I can confirm that this is not true. My mom's profile shows all the games she played from my library.

Of course games you had access to through the share will not be available if you leave the group.
You did not own the license to those games, you only borrowed it from someone else, so thus you do not get to keep permanent access when you are no longer in the Family Share group.

Also, game save data is connected to YOUR account and saved locally on YOUR computer, even for Family Shared games.
You still have the save data, but you obviously can't use it again until you rejoin the group or buy the game yourself.

https://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2025/38/7/1758428550-capture-d-cran-2025-09-21-043254.png

The problem isn't leaving the group, but rather that Steam Family Sharing leaves no trace of your progress. Even when you finish a shared game, your playtime and achievements don't appear on your profile.

Trading cards also don't unlock with Family Sharing.

Worse still, if the game is removed from Family Sharing, your entire game history disappears from your account: achievements, playtime, statistics... Everything is erased, as if you'd never played. It's this lack of real tracking that makes the system frustrating for players.

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

https://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2025/38/7/1758428550-capture-d-cran-2025-09-21-043254.png

The problem isn't leaving the group, but rather that Steam Family Sharing leaves no trace of your progress. Even when you finish a shared game, your playtime and achievements don't appear on your profile.

Trading cards also don't unlock with Family Sharing.

Worse still, if the game is removed from Family Sharing, your entire game history disappears from your account: achievements, playtime, statistics... Everything is erased, as if you'd never played. It's this lack of real tracking that makes the system frustrating for players.

I mentioned everything in my first reply.

As for trading card drops, only owners of said games get those. Nothing about this has changed.

You have the following data for RES 4 as seen via your profile.

A review, screenshots and listed in your perfect games.

The other data is there but RE4 is not a permanent addition in your library because you borrowed RE4 via Steam Families. To get the other data back you either join another Steam Family or you purchase RE4.

As for trading cards you need to have RE4 as a permanent addition in your library via purchasing to get trading cards.

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

{LINK REMOVED}https://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2025/38/7/1758428550-capture-d-cran-2025-09-21-043254.png

The problem isn't leaving the group, but rather that Steam Family Sharing leaves no trace of your progress. Even when you finish a shared game, your playtime and achievements don't appear on your profile.

Trading cards also don't unlock with Family Sharing.

Worse still, if the game is removed from Family Sharing, your entire game history disappears from your account: achievements, playtime, statistics... Everything is erased, as if you'd never played. It's this lack of real tracking that makes the system frustrating for players.

It isn't frustrating if you do not think of it in a way that it wasn't intended, not dissimilar to be frustrated over a door that says "pull" when one is pushing. Steam family doesn't permit you a license for the games, simply access to play them. As stated you will either need to join another family or purchase those games if you really want those stats to show on your profile.

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

Steam Family Sharing is disappointing in practice. Shared games leave almost no trace on your profile: no achievements, no playtime, no progress history. It's as if you never played.

You do not own the game, you borough it from a family member.
If you want all the bells and whistles, you need to buy the game.

Originally posted by The End:

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

Steam Family Sharing is disappointing in practice. Shared games leave almost no trace on your profile: no achievements, no playtime, no progress history. It's as if you never played.

You do not own the game, you borough it from a family member.
If you want all the bells and whistles, you need to buy the game.

Family Sharing should be a real service integrated into Steam, not a deliberately restricted version. It's not a question of "owning" the game or not: if Valve offers this option, there should at least be basic tracking—achievements, playtime, trading cards.

Today, it's quite the opposite: the system is designed in a restrictive and vicious way. You play, but nothing appears on your profile, and if sharing is removed, all your history disappears. As a result, the player receives no return on their investment in time and progress.

This approach frustrates more than it helps, and above all, it gives the impression that Valve is using these limitations to push purchases, rather than offering a true family sharing tool.

Sounds like your problem is mismanaged expectations and a belief your assumptions should be the way things ought to work, and if they work differently, that's a problem that needs to be solved.

Sometimes you just have to learn, understand and work within the system that exists, because what you want ain't happening.

So of course some things wouldn't apply to a shared user, they're only for the game's owner. Ultimately Steam families isn't a way to buy fewer games and get all the features as if you owned them.

So if cards, and progress displayed on your peofile is that important, buy the game. Complaining that something you're getting for free isn't good enough might not be the scam you're claiming.

And if Valve agreed with your opinions the system would already work like you assume it should. You might to put in your opinions and get a handle on why the system works differently than you'd like. Might help you make better claims in place of purely self-serving onrs.

Originally posted by nullable:

Sounds like your problem is mismanaged expectations and a belief your assumptions should be the way things ought to work, and if they work differently, that's a problem that needs to be solved.

Sometimes you just have to learn, understand and work within the system that exists, because what you want ain't happening.

So of course some things wouldn't apply to a shared user, they're only for the game's owner. Ultimately Steam families isn't a way to buy fewer games and get all the features as if you owned them.

So if cards, and progress displayed on your peofile is that important, buy the game. Complaining that something you're getting for free isn't good enough might not be the scam you're claiming.

And if Valve agreed with your opinions the system would already work like you assume it should. You might to put in your opinions and get a handle on why the system works differently than you'd like. Might help you make better claims in place of purely self-serving onrs.

The problem is that Steam calls it "family sharing," but in reality, it's an ultra-limited loan. And contrary to what you say, it's not a matter of "unrealistic expectations": other platforms like Xbox or PlayStation offer true family sharing, without restricting achievements, tracking, or anything else.

Valve is the only one to impose this kind of artificial restriction. As a result, this system frustrates more than it helps. You might as well play a river version; it's the same thing.

Why would it display on your profile if you don't own said game?

The problem isn't "owning" the game, but recognizing a player's real progress. Even if you borrow a game through Family Sharing, you play, unlock achievements, and spend time on it... All of this should appear on your profile.

Today, Steam requires you to buy the same game twice within a family so that each member can benefit from full tracking. This isn't just a matter of it being free; it's an artificial limitation that makes the system frustrating and impractical.

Originally posted by BoubouV12:

The problem isn't "owning" the game, but recognizing a player's real progress. Even if you borrow a game through Family Sharing, you play, unlock achievements, and spend time on it... All of this should appear on your profile.

Today, Steam requires you to buy the same game twice within a family so that each member can benefit from full tracking. This isn't just a matter of it being free; it's an artificial limitation that makes the system frustrating and impractical.

Because you cannot share licenses. You are purchasing a license. Those cannot be shared.

Go to the store, add a game to your cart, and you will see this:

A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam.

For full terms and conditions, please see the Steam Subscriber Agreement