Even If You Have a Will, You Can't Transfer Your Steam Account After Death
Brook.X
In a move towards humanitarian considerations, some tech companies now allow users to designate heirs for their digital accounts. This means that in the event of the user's unexpected death, the appointed heirs can gain access to the account, including decrypting the data contained within. For instance, Apple has introduced a Legacy Contact feature for Apple IDs, where users can appoint one or more contacts. These selected individuals can use a provided security key or the user's death certificate to contact Apple and gain access to the account.
However, Steam, the world's largest gaming platform, currently does not support the setting of legacy contacts. More disappointingly, even if a user has made a will to transfer their account to someone else, Valve will not recognize this.
Earlier this month, a Resetera forum user named delete12345 reached out to Steam support regarding this issue and received the following response:
Steam accounts and the games purchased through them are non-transferrable. Users cannot provide others with access to their accounts or merge its contents with other Steam accounts. Regrettably, we inform you that your Steam account cannot be transferred through a will.
This response makes it clear that users cannot transfer their Steam account or any digital content purchased through it to another person, even if they have made a will and passed away.
Of course, there's a simple workaround to this restriction, which is to share your Steam account and password with someone in advance. They can then log in directly using these credentials.
If possible, it's also wise to share the email and password associated with your Steam account in advance. This way, even if account verification or password reset is needed later, it can be easily handled through the email.
For Steam users, the lack of support for legacy contacts is undoubtedly disappointing. It remains to be seen whether Gabe Newell (affectionately known as "GabeN") and Valve might change their stance in the future to allow the transfer of digital assets under special circumstances.
