If you’ve built up a treasure trove of digital video games on Steam and were planning to bequeath your vast collection to your descendants upon your death for whatever reason, then we have some grim news: Steam says it’s not actually possible.
In this era where digital games have surpassed physical ones in popularity, the idea of willing your Steam account to a loved one, descendent, or best friend might have seemed like a practical way for your games to see the light of day and be enjoyed once you’ve passed without burdening the benefactor with dusty boxes of old and scratched physical game discs. However, thanks to a question raised by the Resetera user delete12345, we now know Steam accounts can’t be transferred via a will, as reported by TechSpot.
According to delete12345, who posted Steam’s response to his burning question on Resetera on May 20, Steam accounts are non-transferable—which applies even after your death. What that means if it can’t be transferred, even if you decided to leave your Steam account and its stock to someone in your will.
So, what happens to all your beloved accounts and games once you’ve died and you can’t give your account to someone? Nothing… unless Steam deletes inactive accounts.
To combat this, players are suggesting you also leave your Steam ID and password in your will so the benefactor can access your account and play games from your library. But with how important two-factor authentication is and the fact many people have this enabled on their accounts, it might also be a good idea to leave them your 2FA device because (unless you have some way of knowing when it’s your time) you can’t turn this off. Well, you could and just accept the risks. But then you might lose your account entirely.
Unfortunately, in an age where digital games are convenient, physical is actually the way to go if you’re planning on bequeathing them. If you’ve spent a lot of money on Steam, it might just be time to add your login info to your will.
