Using multiple accounts to earn achievements on Steam

I'm sort of an achievement hunter who plays mostly singleplayer games (with a few exceptions such as Team Fortress 2) and games that have an optional multiplayer mode. In the latter, there often are achievements that can only be unlocked in multiplayer, and in most cases it would be much easier if you had a partner who would specifically help you fulfill the achievement's requirements.

Since most of my friends either don't play the same games as me or simply don't care as much about achievements, I got the idea to create a second account, use it to download certain games on another device and then join a game with myself to unlock achievements on my primary account.

From what I know, just having multiple accounts isn't against Steam's rules, but I'm still not sure about doing this. Is it considered cheating? Could I risk getting a VAC ban (in games where that applies), or even losing my account? The reason I'd like to think it's okay is that I'd essentially be paying for some games a second time.

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Is it OK to have multiple Steam accounts?

Can I use multiple Steam accounts on one computer? Yes, you can access different Steam accounts from one computer. However, you may only access one account at a time.

Can you earn achievements on shared games?

Yes, achievements from shared games are included into your stats.

How do I transfer achievements between Steam accounts?

Unfortunately, it does not work that way. You must do the achievements logged onto your steam account. Any achievements you get from that save point forward however, will go on the account that is currently logged in (should be yours) while playing.

Can Steam achievements be cheated?

Yes you can get banned for achievement cheating but you have to do it on a VAC server. The game devs can game ban you if they find out as this has happened at times so you can always send reports to both steam and the game's support.

Add/Remove ANY Steam Achievement with one click | Full Guide [Steam Achievement Manager - SAM]

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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