Valve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because 'All adult members in a Steam Family' can see your Steam Replay page

GamesSteamValve is fixin' to start some arguments over the holidays because ‘All adult members in a Steam Family’ can see your Steam Replay pageWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Getty Images: Nick White)

A woman and daughter upset at something on a phone

Recent updates

Here at PC Gamer we’re all busy sharing ourSteam Replayswith each other in Slack, comparing how many games we’ve played, how many ‘cheevos we’ve earned, and how many of us have the word ‘Dwarf’ in our spider graphs—which is at least five of us. The Dwarf genre had a strong 2024!

It’s fun to see our stats and how they compare with one another as well as Steam’s “median” users, but it’s not hard to envision a bit of bashfulness when it comes to the data in our Steam Replays, too. I’m a little taken aback that just Stardew Valley and Balatro combine to form almost40%of my playtime this year. I should really give my Steam Deck a fighting chance to gather abitof dust in 2025.

And, y’know, there could be other slightly embarrassing data nuggets in someone’s Steam Replay. For instance, say you’re a bit reluctant to advertise that you play adult games. I’m not judging anyone, but Steam is filled with thousands of NSFW games with names like Horny Villa, MILF’s Plaza, Butt Knight, Peeping Dorm Manager, and Sweet Story Wet-Bottom Pie 18+ Adult Only Content (that’s the full title).

“All adult members in a Steam Family can automatically access the Steam Replay for other members of the Steam Family.”

At least non-adults can’t see what the grownups have been up to: “Child members do not have any special access priviledge.”

Steam Family members being able to peep each others’ Replays probably isn’t a big deal most of the time, but I can see it causing some friction around the dinner table over the holidays. Are your grades dropping and Steam Replay shows you spent 120 hours playing Helldivers 2 during the month of your midterms? Do you really want to explain why you spent nearly all of June and July clicking a banana inBanana? Are you cool with Mom, Dad, and Aunt Verna seeing “Hentai” on your spider graph? Maybe not.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

As Mollie put it in our slack chat: “make sure your pops doesn’t see you spent 400 hours in futa games.” (I don’t know what that means and I’m not gonna Google it while I’m logged in at work.)

Many of us don’t only have actual family in our Steam family. The feature can also be used to share games with friends, and if all those friends are marked as adults, your Replay is fair game. Maybe your friends already know you spend a lot of time playing Furry Feet Girls, or maybe they’re about to find out.

In general I’m a bit skittish about multi-billion dollar companies collecting and collating my data, so I’m not a huge fan of things like Spotify Wrapped or Steam Replay. I sure wouldn’t like it if other companies did it. Would I be happy if my internet provider was like “Hey, here’s a bunch of graphs showing all the websites you spent the most time on this year! All of them. Look, here’sallof them. Eventhatone.Sinner.” Probably not.

TOPICSValve

TOPICS

More about gamesThe 11 big FPS games of 2025Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s vanLatest23 year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable communitySee more latest►

More about gamesThe 11 big FPS games of 2025Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s van

More about games

The 11 big FPS games of 2025Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s van

Doom: The Dark Ages screnshot

The 11 big FPS games of 2025

Wormhole

Wormhole is an impeccable arcade revival of Snake that plays like it fell off the back of Derek Yu’s van

Latest23 year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable communitySee more latest►

Latest

23 year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable community

Aribeth de Tylmarande in Neverwinter Nights.

23 year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the ‘unpaid software engineers’ of its unkillable community

See more latest►

Most PopularSquare Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fansThe Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcementsPath of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better lootPalestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 NakbaPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

Most Popular

Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans

The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements

Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot

Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba

Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’

Marvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene

Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything

If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals