What Happens to Your Gaming Accounts When You Die?

There is a moment that surprises most families in the weeks after losing someone. While they are working through the practical tasks of closing accounts and managing the estate, they discover a Steam library with hundreds of games — some worth hundreds of dollars. Or a PlayStation account with a decade of trophies. Or a Roblox account their teenager had been building for years. And they have absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Gaming accounts after death sit in a category that most estate planning professionals have never been asked about, and that most platforms have never designed a clear process for. Yet with over 3 billion gamers worldwide and the average Steam user owning more than 60 games, digital gaming estates are becoming a significant and increasingly common issue for families to navigate.

This guide covers what happens to gaming accounts on every major platform when the owner dies, what you can and cannot pass on to your heirs, and what you should do right now to make things as easy as possible for your family.

The Core Problem: You Don't Own Your Games

The most important thing to understand about digital gaming assets is one that most players have never thought about. When you buy a game on Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox, or Nintendo — you are not buying the game. You are buying a licence to play it. That licence belongs to you personally. It cannot be transferred, sold, gifted, or inherited in the traditional sense.

Steam's Subscriber Agreement states explicitly that licences are non-transferable and "may not be sold, transferred or sub-licensed." Sony's PlayStation Store Terms of Service say the same. Microsoft's and Nintendo's terms include equivalent language. This is not a legal grey area — it is the deliberate design of every major gaming platform.

What this means practically: if your family tries to "inherit" your Steam library and transfer it to their account, that is technically a breach of Steam's terms of service. Valve and other platforms would be within their rights to terminate both accounts if they discovered the transfer. In practice, enforcement varies — but families should understand the distinction between practical and legal options.

What Happens to Steam Accounts After Death

Steam has no formal bereavement or deceased account policy published on their website. Unlike Facebook, Google, or Apple — all of which have built death-planning tools or formal processes — Valve has not addressed this topic publicly.

In practice, families with the deceased's Steam login credentials can continue using the account. Steam has no mechanism to detect that the account holder has died, and the account will remain active indefinitely as long as someone logs in periodically and maintains any active subscriptions.

For families who want to formally close a Steam account, the process is through Steam Support at help.steampowered.com. A death certificate and proof of relationship will typically be requested. Steam will deactivate the account, which permanently removes access to the library.

The Steam Wallet balance is the only component that clearly constitutes recoverable monetary value. If the account has a positive Steam Wallet balance, this is an asset of the estate — though recovering it requires contacting Valve directly with estate documentation, and their process for this is not well-documented.

PlayStation and Xbox: The Console Platform Policies

PlayStation and Xbox accounts follow the same fundamental principle as Steam — games are licences, not property — but their processes differ in the details.

PlayStation Network (PSN): Sony has no formal deceased user process. Families who contact PlayStation support report inconsistent responses — some are directed to an online form, others are told there is no process for deceased accounts. A PlayStation account without login access is effectively inaccessible to families. The account will eventually be deactivated by Sony for inactivity after an extended period, but there is no timeline provided.

PlayStation Plus subscriptions — which provide monthly free games and online play — are recurring charges that should be cancelled promptly. These are separate from the game library and will continue billing until cancelled. If the family has the account credentials, cancellation is straightforward through account settings. Without credentials, contact PlayStation support with a death certificate and the registered email address.

Xbox and Microsoft Account: Microsoft has a more developed deceased user process than Sony. Because Xbox accounts are Microsoft accounts, they fall under Microsoft's broader Next of Kin Request process. Family members can submit a request at microsoft.com/en-us/concern/deceased to request account closure or, in some circumstances, access to certain account data. Xbox Game Pass subscriptions should be cancelled through this same process.

Microsoft will not transfer game licences to a new account, but can assist with account closure and may provide access to certain personal data (not game licences) to verified next of kin.

Nintendo and Mobile Gaming Accounts

Nintendo accounts have no documented bereavement process. Nintendo's terms of service state that accounts are personal and non-transferable. For families without login credentials, Nintendo accounts are effectively inaccessible after death. Any remaining Nintendo eShop balance — money loaded into the account for digital purchases — is lost if the account cannot be accessed.

Mobile gaming accounts on iOS and Android present a different picture. Games purchased through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store are tied to those platform accounts rather than to individual game accounts. What happens to these depends on what happens to the overall Apple ID or Google account — which can be addressed through Apple Legacy Contact and Google Inactive Account Manager respectively. See our guides to Apple Legacy Contact and Google Inactive Account Manager.

Gaming Accounts With Real Financial Value

Not all gaming assets are licenced content. Some represent genuine real-world financial value that deserves explicit attention in estate planning.

In-game items with real monetary value: Some games have thriving secondary markets where in-game items trade for real money. CS2 (Counter-Strike 2) weapon skins can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. Rare items in games like Path of Exile, Diablo, or Runescape have been sold for significant sums. These items exist within the game's economy and are typically tied to the platform account — meaning they are subject to the same non-transferability rules as the account itself. However, if the family has account access, these items can be sold through the platform's marketplace before closing the account.

Gaming content creator accounts: A YouTube gaming channel, Twitch streaming account, or gaming-focused social media presence with a significant audience is a genuine asset with monetary value — from ad revenue, subscriptions, donations, and sponsorships. These deserve separate treatment in your estate plan. See our guides to YouTube channels after death and what happens to Twitch accounts.

Roblox and virtual currency: Roblox Robux (the platform's virtual currency) and items in the Roblox Avatar Shop have real monetary equivalents. Roblox has a Developer Exchange programme that allows creators to exchange Robux for real money. If the deceased was an active Roblox creator with a significant Robux balance, this is an asset worth addressing in the estate process. Contact Roblox support with a death certificate to inquire about account closure and any balance recovery.

What to Do Right Now If You Are a Gamer

The most practical steps you can take today require no legal expertise and about 20 minutes.

Document your gaming accounts in your Letter to Family. List every platform you use — Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, Epic Games, Battle.net, Origin, mobile games with significant progress — along with the email address registered to each account. This alone prevents your family from spending hours searching for accounts they didn't know existed. Include your Letter to Family in your estate documents.

Record the approximate value. Go to your Steam library and note the total value of your game collection — Steam shows this in your profile. For console libraries, note the approximate number of games and any rare or valuable items. This gives your executor a sense of what is at stake and whether the effort of recovering access is worthwhile.

Store credentials securely. Because gaming accounts cannot be formally transferred, the most practical legacy protection is ensuring your family has your credentials. A password manager like 1Password or Bitwarden with Emergency Access configured is the most secure approach. See our password planning guide.

Include gaming accounts in your will's digital assets clause. While game licences cannot legally be transferred, your will can grant your executor authority to access gaming accounts to recover any wallet balances, sell any marketable in-game items through platform marketplaces, and make decisions about account continuity. Without this authority, your executor may have no standing to act.

A Note for Parents of Gamers

If you are a parent managing the estate of a child who was an active gamer, be aware that gaming accounts can hold both financial value (in-game currency, valuable items, Steam Wallet balances) and enormous sentimental value. Years of saved game progress, achievements, and digital memories may matter deeply to surviving friends and family. Consider whether to preserve the account in place — leaving achievements and history intact — rather than closing it immediately.