All the video games you’ve ever bought are banned forever: now you know what will happen to your money

The digital world offers unparalleled convenience, but it also raises important questions about content ownership and portability.

In the digital age, Broadcasting has become a staple In the entertainment market. Movies, music and video games can be easily accessed with just one click, providing unprecedented convenience. This technological revolution has changed the way we consume media, allowing us to Assemble massive digital collections without requiring physical space. However, this convenience hides a crucial question: Who really owns this content?

When we buy a game on a platform like Steam, we think we have become its owners. In fact, what we have is a license to use, while in reality the games remain under the control of the company. If the company one day decides to shut down the platform, users will likely find themselves without their favorite titles and with a lot of money spent and not recovered.

The controversy has been going on for years, and fortunately, there has been no news yet about a platform shutting down and leaving its users without the content they paid for. However, in this regard, several users recently participated in a very interesting discussion on the web: What happens to this digital content when the user dies?

The thorny issue of digital game portability

Valve’s Steam gaming platform recently clarified its stance on the portability of accounts and games. According to Steam Support, “Steam accounts and games are non-transferableThis means that, legally speaking, your game collection will be lost with you. Even if you left instructions to transfer your account in a will, Steam will not provide third-party access or allow you to merge your content with another account.

This position, although difficult to understand, is not new. Already in the past, Steam has responded to similar questions, saying: “Your account is yours aloneWhile you can share games with family members, Transfer of account ownership is not permitted.

Obviously, in practical terms, Steam has no way of knowing if you’ve left your login credentials to your heirs. In any case, the Steam subscription agreement is clear: you’re not allowed to disclose, share, or transfer your account, unless explicitly permitted by Valve. This agreement severely limits the ability to legally transfer digital games.

Some Steam forum users have speculated that Valve may allow an account transfer if it is specifically requested in a will. At the moment, Valve has not officially confirmed this possibility. Partial solution could be for Inheriting a computer with games already downloaded and installed. However, if the recipient wanted to transfer the games to another device or reinstall them if the hard drive crashed, this would not be legally possible.