Reviewing shared games. :: Steam Families

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Iced 14 Apr @ 11:52am

Reviewing shared games.

What's the intended behavior on reviewing shared games by a family member?
I've noticed that I'm able to review some games from my shared library while others throw me this error: "You have used this product through Steam Family Sharing, but you must own it in order to post a review."

A quick google search told me that it was not possible to review shared games in the past while using the old family share feature, but this new beta seems inconsistent. Is it currently bugged or are developpers able to choose whether their game can be reviewed or not when shared to a family member?

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

Poraimos 30 Oct @ 2:48am

True, I was able to post a review for Elden Ring and Resident Evil 8 using Family library copies, but Layers of Fear (2016) threw this exact error.
Tried contacting with Support, they referred me here saying the devs read these threads, I can certainly see that

Ogami 30 Oct @ 2:51am

It technically is not supposed to work and should only be available for the original buyer of the game.
But Steam Families has been buggy regarding reviews and sometimes it allows users who played a shared game to write reviews too.

But again, its not supposed to work and is considered an exploit if it does.
Because this would be a very easy way to review bomb games in mass.

Last edited by Ogami; 30 Oct @ 2:52am

Poraimos 30 Oct @ 3:17am

Originally posted by Ogami:
this would be a very easy way to review bomb games in mass.

There’s already a solution: if you didn’t buy the game directly from Steam (e.g., if you received it as a gift or used a CD key), your review won’t count toward the rating for some reason.

I wonder if they're going to remove the ability to review family games (I hope not), and will they delete buggy reviews or even punish those who used this «exploit»? At this point I'm not even sure how seriously they treat the matter