Steam Reveals Gaming Library Cannot be Passed Through Inheritance

Steam addressed a unique concern of gamers about transferring someone's game library through an inheritance once the owner passed away.

According to the company, transferring an account or games to another account is not possible, even with a will, due to company policy.

Steam Disallows Transfer of Gaming Library

In a Steam support conversation, a user asked if it is possible to transfer an account via will. The company's chat support clarified that it is not possible due to their company policies.

"Unfortunately, Steam accounts and games are non-transferable. Steam Support can't provide someone else with access to the account or merge its content with another account," the company responded.

On the other hand, players could share their Steam libraries, if possible, with others by personally giving other people access to the account. For now, inheriting someone's gaming library is not possible.

Steam's Inheritance Policy Receives Mixed Reactions

Several Steam users expressed their frustration with the news. Regardless, others shared possible workarounds for Steam.

For instance, users can just give their login credentials to someone they trust in the case of passing. The payment card could be changed without alerting Steam that the account ownership has changed.

However, some users explained that a Steam account can be banned after being used above a person's average lifespan. Using someone's account and maintaining it as an active user could alert the company in the long run.

For now, it seems that Steam is firm on its decision. Digital distribution states that users are only buying the license to access a game instead of owning the product itself. This poses a problem for people who invest in various gaming titles.

Gamers can still get physical copies of games and invest in equipment rather than relying on sharing digital game content.