THE FUSE

The issue of gaming account inheritance after a person’s death is deeply ambiguous. Steam doesn’t (officially) allow it, GOG does. Essentially decided by another person simply having the necessary email address and password to access the account, even then the matter is very legally dubious, often causing consternation and upset. Not least when such accounts have huge monetary value. One mother in Beijing, China, was faced with this situation after her 36-year-old son died. She wanted to inherit his 87 accounts with an unspecified gaming company in order to supplement her income, but after the company refused, saying it owned the user data, not her, she sued in the Shijingsham District Court and won.