As gamers, we've been conditioned to believe that the games we buy now are often not actually ours. But while big corporations may say differently, it's clear that no matter how much we spend on a game, they can shut it down whenever it seems like the right business decision to their board members and shareholders, especially when it comes to multiplayer or online-centric games.
I can't help but constantly be reminded of the horrifying statement made by a Ubisoft executive that gamers need to get used to the idea that they don't own games anymore: There are several four-letter replies to this theory, but it doesn't change the fact that we don't actually have a say and don't own anything, since we can't or won't be able to buy physical versions of games anymore.
At least with a digital store like Steam, I own something, right? A collection may be unreal, but I own those games and can do with them as I like, even after I'm dead. I bought them, so why not let my kids reminisce about my untimely death by playing Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit together, or open up their dad's old No Man's Sky saves one last time?
The backlog dies with you
“No it's not,” Steam says. “Tell your kids to get their dirty hands off our games. You're dead and your kids are ours.” Ok, that's a paraphrase of the official response to a user's question about whether they can leave their game library to someone in their will.
“Unfortunately, your Steam account cannot be transferred in a will.” Oh come on, the Steam Terms of Service state that games are non-transferable, but I'm dead here and there, so no time to rest?
This is like when you call the electric company and tell them your parent has died, only to be told they can speak to you without the account holder's permission. Stupid.
Who am I organizationally in trouble for giving away my recent video game collection along with my old physical cartridges? Nobody is.
Steam has rightly come under fire for this response, which likely came from low-level customer support who didn't realise that this was the kind of thing the internet likes.
Many have pointed out that if your kid keeps logging in with your account, they won't know. This is true. They can even change the payment card to their own. Well, they can't do that, but that misses the point. I bought it, so I should be able to do what I want. We're not talking about Ubisoft taking down servers here, we're talking about 15 year old versions of Defcon or Civ 4.
As our death approaches, the possibility of leaving a digital footprint behind is something many of us wonder about. I’m too young to die but old enough to die suddenly, and like all of us, I have to think about my OneDrive full of family photos, who will have access to my Netflix account so I can watch “Below Deck” after I’m gone, and other online aspects of my life.
But at the end of the day, I bought these things from Valve with my own money. Like the photos, these things are mementos to me, and I want to give them to my kids even if they'll never play them. I want them to be stressed out over the pile of games I've never played, and infuriated when their old buggy games fail to load because my operating system is no longer Windows Vista.
Let your kids have their late dad's games.
Featured Image: AI-generated ideograms
