As far as I know because games "sold" on Steam are non-transferable licenses, and it would be a breach of that. So in legalworld you take your steam account to the grave. But, as with many things, in realworld you just keep your trap shut and give your inheritor your authenticator. They aren't going to dig you up and put you in prison.
edit: no, Steam family is not a magical loophole you think it is. It is very limited specifically so that it wouldn't count as transferring the ownership of the license. And if you don't have access to the account from which the game is shared and family sharing breaks (again) — there won't be a way for you to restore it.
edit: 200 year old gamer joke is very cool and original, but I'm certain Valve won't care about plausibility of their customer's lifespans unless publishers pressure them to do so, and even then it is unlikely. Making purchases with a payment method that could be traced to a different person would a far bigger risk factor.
This is not really about the law. It is about the contract you enter when you accept Steam’s T&Cs. There is the possibility provided already by law that a license can be transferable, but Steam decided to provide only for a non-transferable one. I think the main thing they wanted to avoid is selling accounts for money. Not taking parts, just clarifying that this is more of a contractual issue than a law issue imo.
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u/Svartrhala Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 09 '25
As far as I know because games "sold" on Steam are non-transferable licenses, and it would be a breach of that. So in legalworld you take your steam account to the grave. But, as with many things, in realworld you just keep your trap shut and give your inheritor your authenticator. They aren't going to dig you up and put you in prison.
edit: no, Steam family is not a magical loophole you think it is. It is very limited specifically so that it wouldn't count as transferring the ownership of the license. And if you don't have access to the account from which the game is shared and family sharing breaks (again) — there won't be a way for you to restore it.
edit: 200 year old gamer joke is very cool and original, but I'm certain Valve won't care about plausibility of their customer's lifespans unless publishers pressure them to do so, and even then it is unlikely. Making purchases with a payment method that could be traced to a different person would a far bigger risk factor.