Funcom said it temporarily disabled Steam Family Sharing for Dune: Awakening because the feature was being abused frequently amid ongoing cheating and exploit issues. The restriction was temporary: Funcom later announced that sharing had been re-enabled, while warning that account bans and suspensions can affect everyone using the same shared game license.
Why Funcom disabled Family Sharing
In a July 25, 2025 announcement, the Dune: Awakening Team said it was temporarily disabling Family Sharing as part of its response to cheats and exploits. The team explained, “we have unfortunately seen this feature abused frequently.” Funcom’s July 25 update did not identify a particular abuse method or explain exactly how Family Sharing was involved, so more specific claims about the tactic are not established by the announcement.
Funcom said it had no estimated restoration date at the time, but aimed to make changes that would allow sharing to return within that year. The same update reported multiple exploit-related hotfixes, bans for “hundreds of players,” and removal of “large amounts” of exploited Solaris. Those are Funcom’s descriptions; it did not publish an exact ban count or a quantity of Solaris removed.
Family Sharing was later re-enabled
Funcom subsequently announced in Communinet Signal #13 that “Steam Family Sharing has been re-enabled for Dune: Awakening.” The retrieved notice does not establish a precise restoration date or describe the technical changes that preceded the decision. The July suspension therefore should not be treated as the game’s current status based on that announcement alone.
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What the restriction meant for Steam players
The restriction concerned Dune: Awakening, not Steam Family Sharing across the platform. Valve says games are generally enabled for sharing by default, but a game may be unavailable because of technical limitations or publisher settings. Steam Support describes Steam Families as replacing the earlier Family Sharing feature, with publisher sharing settings carrying forward unless the publisher opts out. Other possible ineligibility reasons include regional restrictions and third-party account or subscription requirements.
Valve also documents how developers can check whether a player is using a shared copy and explains that sharing licenses are temporary rather than permanent ownership rights for a game’s backend. These are general Steam rules, not Funcom’s explanation for the temporary restriction. Valve’s Steamworks documentation and its Steam Families guide and FAQ explain the platform mechanics.
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Steam’s Dune: Awakening support listing includes Family Sharing among the game’s Steam features. That listing does not show that sharing was continuously available: Funcom’s announcements record a temporary disable followed by re-enablement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Important warning for people using a shared copy
In its restoration notice, Funcom warned that bans and suspensions apply to the whole account and affect all players sharing the same game license. Anyone playing through a shared copy should account for that enforcement risk rather than assuming the consequences apply only to the person who owns the game.
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