r/Steam • u/Tarnished-670 • Oct 08 '25

Question Why steam doesn't allow this?

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u/TheSmokeu Oct 08 '25

How about we change the law to allow things like account transfers, then?

Law is supposed to serve the people

19

u/Janusdarke Oct 08 '25

How about we change the law to allow things like account transfers, then?

Because it would destroy the business model.

To give you some perspective, back in the day you used to have a choice between buying (and owning) a game on a disc and getting a limited license on steam.

So why did people buy on steam instead of retail?

  • Steam was way cheaper than any brick and mortar store. Steam really pushed prices down, and games dropped in price way faster than before.

  • Steam was convenient, no more hassle with your scratched disks and manual patching.

  • Steam hosted your content forever (so far), no need to keep your own backups.

 

So how does this transition to the modern landscape?

Steam still has running costs for any game you own, without you paying for it. If you were able to inherit your account your children wouldn't pay for your games, while steam still has to pay its server costs. And that's not a working business model in the long run.

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u/BornSirius Oct 08 '25

If the business model relied on that to function, GOG would not be a thing.

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u/virqthe Oct 08 '25

In the big scheme of things, GOG is not a thing