Bad news Xbox users, it looks like upon your passing, the entire digital library you’ve accrued over the years isn’t transferrable upon your death, even if it’s to someone you want to give it to.
And it’s not just Microsoft’s gaming brand that has such a policy. Some of the most popular digital gaming marketplaces have taken the same stance. If you want to pass your account to someone, looks like exchanging information the traditional way—via pen and paper—is the way to go.
Want to Pass Your Account On to Someone After Your Death? Valve Says Tough Luck
If you’re a meticulous person who wants to be prepared for the future, you probably have some systems in place to pass things on to people after your death.
If your digital gaming account was one of them, better to drop your plans now and figure out something else; almost none of the popular digital gaming marketplaces will let that happen.
It all started when someone on ResetEra contacted Steam support to figure out if they could transfer their account to someone else on account of their death through their will.
The support staff replied that it wasn’t possible, and the account was non-transferrable.
This disappointed a lot of users who suggested workarounds, like writing your account info down, making sure the inheritor could access the 2FA authentication, etc.
Would this get past staff who can see a 100+-year-old account still active and buying games? We’ve yet to find that out, never mind that the platform might not even last that long.
It’s a Widespread Problem: Xbox and Other Companies Have Similar Policies
If you thought escaping to another platform would solve the problem, well, not really. As reported by Respawnfirst, Epic Games and GOG have the same policies.
GOG was much more cooperative, however, stating that it had more power to cooperate with a court order. It also mentioned its games are DRM-free, and people can save their collection on an external drive if they want to pass it down.
Even PlayStation and Xbox accounts face a similar ordeal, where people are unable to transfer them to others, even if their will includes it.
If you’re logged into an account that was made under a deceased individual’s name, be careful to not log out, or you might lose it all.
Comment
byu/ieatkittentails from discussion
inxboxone
It’s a sad state of affairs that you might not be able to pass on your rightfully bought games and content to someone you trust. In front of these policies, physical game collections look more and more appealing.
All you’d need to do is pass ownership of these assets, and the inheritors would have them even if they’re taken down from every digital marketplace.
What do you think about this whole situation? Are these companies right in not allowing the transfer of ownership of your accounts, or is it unfair? Let us know in the comments below!
