Share games with your family group

When Stadia players are part of a Google family group, they can share games with other members of the group. Any member of the group who creates a Stadia account can play a shared game, even if they haven't purchased or claimed the game on their account.

Note: Supervised members of a family group won't be able to play a shared game if its content rating is above what the family group manager has approved for them.

Family sharing and "Play for free" games

Add-on content for free games cannot be shared among members of a family group. If you claim a free game in the Stadia Store, you can purchase any add-on content to access it.

Family sharing and Stadia Pro

You don't need to be an active Stadia Pro subscriber to share games or play shared games. However, if you share a game that you claimed with your Pro subscription and your subscription ends, the game will stop being shared with your family group.

Create a family group

Before you can use family sharing, you'll need to create a Google family group with the same email address you used to set up your Stadia account. You'll also need to add a family payment method to the group before games can be shared among its members.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. At the top right, select your avatar Stadia settings.
3. Select Family Get started.
4. Follow the instructions to create a family group and add a family payment method.

In the Stadia app

1. On your mobile device, open the Stadia app .
2. At the top right, tap your avatar.
3. Tap Family Get started.
4. Follow the instructions to create a family group and add a family payment method.

Manage your family group

After you set up a family group, you can manage the family payment method, add and remove group members, and change parental approval settings.

About the family payment method

After the family group manager adds a family payment method to the group, they can manage the payment settings for group members at families.google.com. Family group members can use the family payment method to purchase Stadia games.

The family manager must approve every purchase on Stadia made by each supervised family group member using the family payment method, unless a family member is making the purchase from the Stadia app on Android, in which case the family manager's Google Play purchase approval settings will apply.

If you purchase games on an Android device, your payments are managed with Google Play. If you make purchases on the iPhone/iPad app or at stadia.com, your payments are managed with Google Pay. A valid family payment method must be associated with your family group in order to play shared games.

Add and remove group members

A family manager can add or remove family group members at any time. When a family member is removed from a group, they won't be able to view or play a shared game unless they've purchased it on their own account, or claimed it as part of an active Stadia Pro subscription.

Supervised accounts and parental approval

Supervised family group members, such as children under the age of 13 (or 16, depending on your country), must have a Google account set up for them by their family manager before they can be added to a family group. The family manager can also add supervision to a family group member's account if it's not already set up.

After adding a family payment method, the family group manager can enable and manage parental controls for supervised members of the group. If the manager sets age restrictions for a supervised account on Stadia, the member with the supervised account won't see shared games in their library that are restricted by those settings.

The family manager must set up a Play Family Library to set up a family payment method that can be used by family group members to make purchases on the Android Stadia app . Stadia games cannot be shared using the Play Family Library. To turn on sharing, follow the steps below.

Family members in different countries

To use family sharing:

• The family manager's Google Play Country must match the country they're using Stadia from.
• All family members, including the manager, must have the same country set up in their Google Play profile. Learn how to change your Google Play country.

Note: If a family member has a different Google Play country than the rest of the group, the group won't be able to share games until that person is removed from the group, or changes their Google Play country. If the person is removed from the group, they won't be able to rejoin until they change their Google Play country to match the rest of the group.

Turn on family sharing

When a valid family payment method is associated with your family group, any member of the group can turn on family sharing and share games with other family members.

Note: If you're a member of a family group, you don't need to turn on family sharing to play games that other group members have shared with you.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. At the top right, select your avatar Stadia settings.
3. Select Family Set up.
4. Choose how you want to share your games.
   • To share all of your games, select Automatically share everything.
   • To share only specific games, select Don't share automatically.
5. Select Save.

Note: No matter which setting you choose, you can still turn sharing on or off for individual games.

In the Stadia app

1. On your mobile device, open the Stadia app .
2. At the top right, tap your avatar.
3. Tap Family Set up.
4. Choose how you want to share your games.
   • To share all of your games, tap Automatically share everything.
   • To share only specific games, tap Don't share automatically.
5. Tap Back .

Note: As a family group member, you don't need to do anything else after choosing how to share your games. Your sharing settings will be applied automatically. Even if you choose not to share everything automatically, you can still turn on sharing for individual games.

Change how you share games

As a member of a family group, you can change how your game library is shared with other members of the group.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. At the top right, select your avatar Stadia settings.
3. Select Family Options.
4. Choose how you want to share your games.
   • To share all of your games, select Automatically share everything.
   • To share only specific games, select Don't share automatically.

After you choose your setting, it will take effect automatically.

In the Stadia app

1. On your mobile device, open the Stadia app .
2. At the top right, tap your avatar.
3. Tap Family Options.
4. Choose how you want to share your games.
   • To share all of your games, select Automatically share everything.
   • To share only specific games, select Don't share automatically.
5. Tap Back .

After you choose your setting, it will take effect automatically.

Turn sharing on or off for specific games

As a member of a family group, you can enable or disable sharing for individual games in your library that you've claimed or purchased. These settings will take effect regardless of the automatic sharing settings you've chosen in the steps above.

On stadia.com

1. Sign into your account on stadia.com.
2. Select Store scroll down to "All games" select See all.
3. Select a game you've claimed or purchased that you want to start or stop sharing.
4. On the game's detail page, above its description, turn Share this game with family on or off.

In the Stadia app

1. On your mobile device, open the Stadia app .
2. Tap Store scroll down to "All games" tap See all.
3. Tap a game you've claimed or purchased that you want to start or stop sharing.
4. On the game's detail screen, above its description, turn Share this game with family on or off.

If you turn off family sharing for a specific game, other members of your family won't be able to play it unless:

• They've purchased the game on their own account.
• They've claimed the game as part of an active Stadia Pro subscription.

Play a shared game

When someone in your family group shares a game with you, it will appear in your library automatically. In the Stadia store, the label "Shared by family" will appear under the game's title. To play the game, just select the game select Play .

Any family group member with a Stadia account can play a shared game as long as:

• A valid family payment method is associated with the family group.
• No one else in the family group is currently playing the game.
• They aren't restricted by parental control settings or family sharing limits.

Each family member will have their own save data for shared games. If a game stops being shared with you, your save data will not be deleted. If you purchase the game on your own account, your save data will be restored.

You cannot share subscriptions or some add-on content, such as in-game currency. Also, if members of your family group have claimed a game for free, they won't be able to access shared add-on content for the game, but can purchase it on their own accounts.

"Someone's already playing"

If all shared copies of a game are being played by members of your family group, the family sharing icon will appear instead of Play when you try to launch it. Select the icon for more information.

You can wait until the other group member is finished playing, or you can try a different game. If you want to play the game right away, you can choose to:

• Purchase the game on your own account.
• Sign up for Stadia Pro if the game can be claimed with a Pro subscription.

Note: If more than one family member shares the same game, more than one family member will be able to play it at the same time. For example, if two family members share the same game, up to two family members can play it simultaneously.

Shared game refunds

Only the adult family member who purchased a Stadia game can request a refund for it. If a shared game is refunded, you'll still be able to play it if:

• The game is still being shared by another family member who has claimed or purchased it.
• You've purchased the game on your own account.
• You've claimed the game as part of an active Stadia Pro subscription.