You can't take it with you, but you can't leave it for someone else either: Valve says you aren't allowed to bequeath a Steam account in a will
All these unfinished, 75% off, 7/10 RPGs will be lost to time, like tears in rain.
![The scout, soldier, and heavy from TF2](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WXCauYx5iuX7NSjYhqLCE4-1200-80.jpg)
First reported by Ars Technica, ResetEra user delete12345 has made an interesting discovery about Steam libraries: we're not allowed to bequeath them to our loved ones in the event of our untimely passing.
Delete12345 asked Steam Support about the hypothetical scenario, and got a clear, professional, but very disappointing response. "Unfortunately, Steam accounts and games are non-transferable," the support rep explained. "Steam Support can't provide someone else with access to the account or merge its access to another account.
"I regret to inform you that your Steam account cannot be transferred via a will."
Now, I was going to suggest that you can just give your designated heir the Steam login and password without getting lawyers involved—barring a sudden tragedy or Knives Out-style scenario where your grasping heirs are at each other's throats trying to secure your estate, that should work perfectly fine. But it turns out that would be in flagrant violation of the Steam Subscriber Agreement.
"You may not reveal, share, or otherwise allow others to use your password or Account except as otherwise specifically authorized by Valve," the document reads. And if that wasn't clear enough, it also refers to password sharing as a "violation of this confidentiality agreement" a little further down.
So you heard it loud and clear, folks. Unless you want to take on the mortal sin of breaking the iron law of End User License Agreement just as you slip this mortal coil, forever cleaving your soul from God, grace, and Gabe Newell, you just gotta let that library lie fallow after you're gone.
If, however, you insist on your progeny taking up your very same $1,500 Counter-Strike 2 AWP with some kind of ugly graffiti dragon on it, slipping your issue the account username and password in contravention of the sacred EULA you signed (no doubt having read the whole thing several times over), I suppose that's your prerogative.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.
![BRAZIL - 2021/10/12: In this photo illustration the Unity Technologies logo seen displayed on a smartphone on the background of a keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Xhca876xaXky5MgAwTEc3e-840-80.jpg)
2 years into Unity's long downward spiral, even more employees are being laid off as CEO says it's still 'stretched across too many products'
![A conceptual image illustrating strategy and risk with a white mouse hanging mid-air in a harness, wearing a communication headset with earpiece and microphone being lowered towards a primed mousetrap load with Swiss cheese on a tiled floor. Light From a slightly ajar door illuminates the scene.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V3rReteJCG8qFgGqp3hHoX-840-80.jpg)
Google's AI made up a fake cheese fact that wound up in an ad for Google's AI, perfectly highlighting why relying on AI is a bad idea