# If I die can I will my game library to someone? (e.g. Steam, Epic, Origin, etc) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2021, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145 "2021-07-10T07:33:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/21 "2021-07-11T15:14:41Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Pick a nice offline one that runs on free software and you’ll be fine. (I use [pass](https://www.passwordstore.org/) though there are plenty of others that have a more user-friendly graphical interface.) I have an offline password manager that runs on free software. It’s a paper notebook. Very reliable so far. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/22 "2021-07-11T15:18:31Z")
No, you cannot. I was just suggesting if I could. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/23 "2021-07-11T15:32:49Z")
And if you could, the pricing structure might be different in the first place. If buying a game, or other digital content, included the ability to give, sell, trade, or bequeath it to another person, the original selling price might be higher to reflect that. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/24 "2021-07-11T15:33:33Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > No, you cannot. > > I was just suggesting if I could. OK you can’t, so stop fantasizing about that. What you can do instead is leave one of your loved ones with a great resource that, while it may not make them any money, will be of great enjoyment to them. You should try and do that. I would too. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/25 "2021-07-11T15:35:15Z")
Is that legal? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/26 "2021-07-11T15:37:04Z")
Well, back in the old days, games came on physical media. Bequeathing that to someone would be trivial. I guess my issue is why does Steam own the game I bought and now I have no ownership rights or ability to resell or pass what I bought to someone else? I know…I agreed to their terms. But I really have no other option. Even buying physical media for my PlayStation still has the same online terms. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/27 "2021-07-11T15:38:58Z")
Exactly, which is why I was always opposed to the steam download movement. You don’t own the game anymore, like you used to. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/28 "2021-07-11T18:58:58Z")
That’s why I like physical copies of movies and music I _really_ like – streaming is too ethereal for my taste. _Archer_ used to be on Netflix and I was waiting for the next season to show up, then a week before it vanished. Somebody had outbid them. Likewise a friend of mine had all his music with Microsoft’s service and was giving me flack for being old-fashioned. Then MS announced they were no longer in the music streaming service. He got his money back but all those playlists? Gone. I (barely) refrained from saying, “I told you so.” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/29 "2021-07-12T04:15:30Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Well, back in the old days, games came on physical media. > [@Isamu](#): > > Exactly, which is why I was always opposed to the steam download movement. You don’t own the game anymore, like you used to. Actually you didn’t used to. The ToS are pretty much the same for physical and downloaded software - you have bought a license to use it, you don’t ‘own’ the application like you own a car. You are not allowed to resell or transfer it whether on a DVD or not. The big difference is of course a DVD can be easily transferred anyway, which is why before download services were king many games (and indeed other apps) started requiring activation codes. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/30 "2021-07-12T04:18:04Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Likewise a friend of mine had all his music with Microsoft’s service and was giving me flack for being old-fashioned. Then MS announced they were no longer in the music streaming service. He got his money back but all those playlists? Gone. Steam are on record as saying that in the (extremely unlikely!) event of them going out of business they would transfer all games to the users before shutting the servers down. Quite how that would work I don’t know, I assume they have a corporate plan for that. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/31 "2021-07-12T04:41:44Z")
I guess the other question is - how demanding are the requirements for a userid? I can see PayPal being picky because it deals with money and could be prone to fraudulent use or there could be concerns about tax evasion. But a videogame service? Do they want more than user name, email and password? What I see is computers becoming less evolutionary - some people were using Windows XP up to 17 years after it was released; Windows 10 is stable, how many years does it have left? I’m using a computer from 2015 which works fine, and my living room computer is from 2010 and plays all the movies I want to. Microsoft went to the rental model after they figured out people were sill using Office XP. They changed the file format, but had to produce a file format changer. Now they limit old versions of office file formats due to security. The problem is 99% of people don;t need the extra features in Office Whatever. 2010 still works fine. 2007 works fine. In order to keep the gravy flowing they had to go to a subscription model. The same with the games. They will upgrade the servers for group play, they will upgrade the TCP/IP and website security and encryption, you will need a newer PC to play the game, and the newer game version which is rebranded and rental only, and eventually for your “owned” game there will only be solo play on a decrepit old PC you keep in a corner of your “office” room. This is a game that software manufacturers know how to play too well. ---
**Author:** ![TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thegunismightierthanthepen/32/2981_2.png) [@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheGunIsMightierThanThePen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2021, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145/32 "2021-07-12T05:58:34Z")
The simplest way would be to notify users of the impending shutdown of the servers, and then give them a fixed time window (say, a month) where the users can download the games to their local storage, after which the servers are shuttered permanently and if the users miss this window, they’re shit outta luck unless pirated versions are floating around on the web. Of course, this doesn’t resolve the issue of online multiplayer being scuttled when the servers go down, although I suppose hardcore devotees of the games can set up private servers and mod the games to be compatible with them and/or bypass any security checks. For example, apparently the multiplayer mode of the original _Quake_ is still being played, 25 years after the game was released. > **[We're running a Quake multiplayer server all week for the 25th anniversary](https://www.pcgamer.com/were-running-a-quake-multiplayer-server-all-week-for-the-25th-anniversary/)** > > Celebrate Quake's big milestone with FFA, TDM, and CTF. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-die-can-i-will-my-game-library-to-someone-e-g-steam-epic-origin-etc/946145.md?page=1)