Profile sharing: all the cool companies are into it. Netflix is more or less cool with you doling out your streaming password and so is HBO. Meanwhile, with their new consoles, Microsoft and Sony are finally getting around to letting everyone in your house share the same console.

And so goes Valve, who’ve announced that in-home streaming is now available via Steam. What that means is that if you’ve booted up Steam on your PC, you’ll be able to output your game to other devices on the same network in your home. Valve details how the free service works on their product page, but essentially, if you’ve just bought Wolfenstein: The New Order, you and your friends will be able to play with the same game.

Okay, really, this is more about streaming rather than sharing, but the whole point is being able to play your games on multiple devices.

Again, looking at MS and Sony, this has been something they’ve been noodling with for a minute – an AppleTV for games. While those games would have been tethered to both hardware makers’ consoles, the idea was the same: play your stuff wherever. OnLive (which I haven’t thought about until I started typing the word “OnLive”) seemed poised to offer the best option on this front with their cloud gaming service. Sadly, since it was announced about two years back, it hasn’t really taken off.

Could we finally reach the point where you just plug your controller into a cheap, set-top box and start playing Call of Duty? I’m hoping that’s not too far off, and Valve seems to be pushing us one step closer in that direction.

HT: Joystiq