Steam Users Call for Accounts to Be Passed on After Death

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Following a personal story about their father’s fight with terminal cancer, a Steam user asked Valve to let people pass their accounts to family or close friends after they pass away. Currently, the Steam terms of service don’t allow account trading or transfers. However, Steam’s Family Sharing feature *does* let users access some games on another person’s account.

As the leading platform for PC gaming, Steam constantly expands its game library. It also features regular seasonal sales to encourage players to build up their collection of PC games. However, despite the increasing preference for digital game purchases over physical copies, buying games on Steam has both advantages and disadvantages. While downloading and installing games is convenient for gamers with fast internet access, it also means that Steam-and other digital stores-have the power to revoke game licenses whenever they choose.

What Happens To Someone’s Steam Library When They Die?

I was reading on the Steam subreddit, and someone named Top-Flight5486 brought up a really touching point. Apparently, their father has only a few months left due to cancer, and gaming has been a huge comfort to him during treatment. They were worried about what will happen to his game collection when he’s gone, because Steam doesn’t allow accounts to be transferred, sold, or even traded. It’s frustrating because, as Top-Flight5486 pointed out, all those games could just disappear. It’s true that Valve probably has legal reasons for their current policy, but it really struck a chord with a lot of other users. This whole thing came up because of a new California law requiring storefronts like Steam to clearly state that we’re buying licenses, not owning the games themselves, but it feels like this account transfer issue is a separate, bigger problem. It’s not just about the license; it’s about preserving something meaningful.

Most users responded by expressing their sympathy to Top-Flight5486 and their father regarding the issue. Others offered possible solutions, such as saving account details and related emails to preserve the collection for as long as possible. Another idea was to use Steam’s Family Sharing feature. Although it has limitations, Family Sharing lets a user give access to compatible games to anyone added to their group.

Steam might not allow the transfer of game collections after a user’s death because of potential legal issues. Whether Valve will update its policies concerning this situation remains to be seen. Only time will tell if they will make any changes.

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2025-10-04 01:07