Can I install Steam games on more than one PERSONAL computer?

[CurseTheSky]

I have three computers that I use for different reasons. Two are portable, and one is my normal gaming desktop. Right now I have Steam (and related games) installed on my desktop, but I'd like to play some of the games on my other computers from time to time.

Is it possible / legal / etc. (without getting my account banned) to install Steam and some games on the other computers? I have no plans to try to use Steam from more than one computer at the same time.

On the other hand, what would happen if I forgot to shut Steam down on my desktop, and connected to it with my laptop? Would I get a notice saying Steam is already logged in, or could they ban my account for just doing that?

Thanks.

 

[brblx]

yes, you can. i'm not sure on the specific rules, but i know using your steam account on different computers isn't prohibited. you just can't be logged in on more than one at once (shutting down steam should immediately log you out).

 

[dj2004]

You can use the same account on multiple computers. You will only to be able to have one computer logged into Steam at a time, though. There may be a way to avoid this, maybe offline mode. And this answers your last question, you'll get kicked off Steam (logged off, not banned or anything) if you try to log on with the account already running on another computer.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Perfect, thanks for the info guys. Some co-workers want to get together for a L4D match, and I wouldn't mind having some less-demanding games available on my laptop for when there's nothing else to do.

 

[BassBomb]

Yup I do this..
I had it installed on my tv computer and my main computer (tv was just for testing but was installed)

 

[Bateluer]

Answer is yet, and offline mode allows you to play more than 1 at the same time. Be aware that some Steam games 'feature' SecuRom which comes with limited activations, which would still cramp your LAN party. I don't think L4D has SecuRom though. Its mainly EA and UbiSoft titles, which usually aren't worth paying for anyway.

 

[WT]

I tired to play L4D using three of my PCs, and after updating each and then taking it offline, then on to the next PC until all three were fully patched and updated and offline, I was unable to join a LAN game started on the first PC. Quite the bummer. If you are able to get it to work, let me know !!

 

[CurseTheSky]

Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), I'm not planning on using the same copy of the game to play at the LAN. We'll all have our own copies; I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any problems if I had the game installed on two computers are the same time. One computer will be sitting idle and disconnected from Steam, while the other will be taken to another location and used to blast zombies for a few hours.

Thanks again.

 

[Adam8281]

Yep, I have Steam on my lappy and my desktop. When you log in with one computer, it will boot you off of the other computer, and vice versa.

 

[mmntech]

I think it depends on the game, but yeah, it's tied to your account not the computer.

 

[jongregs]

I played a game on my laptop, saved it, then a few days later loaded up steam and logged in on another laptop and the saved game wasn't there - I was still able to load the game itself though.

Does the game save to hard drive? Is there no way I can play a game, save it and load it up somewhere else later?

 

[JTsyo]

Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), I'm not planning on using the same copy of the game to play at the LAN. We'll all have our own copies; I just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any problems if I had the game installed on two computers are the same time. One computer will be sitting idle and disconnected from Steam, while the other will be taken to another location and used to blast zombies for a few hours.

Thanks again.

That's one of the features of steam. You can play games and have the files saved to the cloud so that if you play on a different machine, you can still continue with your game. I have done this multiple times while playing borderlands. When I used to go to my parents, I would log in on my brother's machine and play.

 

[robvp]

it varies from game to game, you have to check if the game has cloud support and have the feature enabled

 

[KidNiki1]

necrooooooooo.

i'm guessing op got it sorted 4 years ago.

 

[zinfamous]

I played a game on my laptop, saved it, then a few days later loaded up steam and logged in on another laptop and the saved game wasn't there - I was still able to load the game itself though.

Does the game save to hard drive? Is there no way I can play a game, save it and load it up somewhere else later?

steam allows cloud saving. Make sure it is set to sync your games to cloud and it should be fine. Of course, this won't work while in offline mode.

I remember that initially, a lot of games didn't support it, but many of them do now as far as I know.

Probably just need to load up the game on the one PC and play it a bit, save and exit, and it should auto-sync....actually I think the cloud syncing happens as soon as you try to load the game through steam.

 

[acheron]

Some games that do support cloud saves won't do it cross-platform.. I've been playing Civ 5 on my Mac laptop, and even though Civ 5 supports cloud saves, and a Civ 5 save game file will work if copied from the Mac to Windows version manually, the Steam versions use separate cloud save instances, so I can't cloud save on Mac and open it on Windows.

 

[natto fire]

steam allows cloud saving. Make sure it is set to sync your games to cloud and it should be fine. Of course, this won't work while in offline mode.

I remember that initially, a lot of games didn't support it, but many of them do now as far as I know.

Probably just need to load up the game on the one PC and play it a bit, save and exit, and it should auto-sync....actually I think the cloud syncing happens as soon as you try to load the game through steam.

It will say at the store page if it is a cloud sync title, but yeah this is the best answer necro-op.

If not that you will have to do it "old school" to move your save file around. There is a "huge" debate on this topic in another thread, but basically you will need a modicum of intelligence and a method to copy a file or folder from one device to the other.

I would be happy to help you however I can for the sake of PC gaming. It is not always roses and QTEs, sometimes requires critical thinking. The second you put that in a "con" category, then I apologize and am jealous, because I don't know what the sun looks like...

 

[PrincessFrosty]

This is an inherent benefit of steam, it's perfectly legal and allowed to not only install and use steam on your own computers, but you can install steam on any PC anywhere, and have access to your library of games.

The only restriction is to be online, and only 1 PC can be logged in at once.