Critics have blasted Microsoft over its used game policy for its Xbox One gaming console. Games are locked to a user’s personal Xbox Live account and require a persistent Internet connection for verification. The company also gave developers the freedom to prevent games from being shared with friends or even sold at certain retailers. In the wake of Microsoft’s bad press, gaming giant Steam appears to be preparing its own lending feature for its popular gaming marketplace.
One common complaint about Steam was a user’s inability to share games with friends, but newly discovered code suggests that the company is working on a “Shared Game Library.” A member of the popular gaming forum NeoGAF spotted the line of code, which specifically mentions sharing games with friends. The feature will allow a friend to play a specific title, although the lender and borrower will not be able to play at the same time.
A snippet of Steam’s code follows below.
“SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicense_Title” “Shared game library”
“SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_OwnerText” “Just so you know, your games are currently in use by %borrower%. Playing now will send %borrower% a notice that it’s time to quit.”
“SteamUI_JoinDialog_SharedLicenseLocked_BorrowerText” “This shared game is currently unavailable. Please try again later or buy this game for your own library.”
