Steam and GOG's Different Policies on Account Inheritance
TapTechNews June 3rd news, recently the issue of the "inheritance right" of Steam platform players' accounts after their passing has become a hot topic on overseas platforms such as ResetEra and Reddit. However, Valve has responded by stating that there is no inheritance right for Steam accounts, and the relevant accounts and the games in them (play rights) are not transferable.
In contrast, GOG Store stated in response to an interview by foreign media Respawnfirst that users have the right to inherit the accounts of deceased relatives, but official documents are required to prove that the user has become the heir of the deceased:
GOG does not collect information sufficient to accurately identify a specific individual (such as a name) or his or her family and marital status. Therefore, we cannot determine whether someone is related to a user or whether a user is deceased.
The GOG account and content are generally not transferable. But if you have a court document specifying that someone has the right to use your personal GOG account, we will do our best to help handle the situation and retain your GOG game inventory.
Considering that many game platforms have been over ten years old, many players are now considering whether their relatives/friends/children can take over their accounts after their passing, and the relevant announcements also mean that GOG has officially become one of the first batch of game stores that can "inherit accounts".
However, the Steam Store still adopts a "tough stance" on related issues. TapTechNews has learned through querying the Steam "End User Agreement" that according to Section 1 C of the User Agreement "User Account", it is stated:
Your account, including any information associated with it (such as contact information, billing information, account history, and subscriptions, etc.), is strictly personal. Therefore, you may not sell or charge others for the right to use your account, or otherwise transfer your account, nor may you sell, charge others for the right to use, or transfer any subscriptions.
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The issue of the "inheritance right" of Steam game accounts has become popular overseas, and Valve responds that "even with a will, access rights cannot be transferred"