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Nowadays, many video games are purchased through cloud services that can only be accessed through a personal account that, when the user can no longer use it, for example, in the event of death, remains unused and inaccessible despite containing products that have been purchased and are the property of said person, something that does not happen with games purchased in physical format and that contrasts with the position of social networks, which have their own procedures for when the owner dies.
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‘Cloud gaming’ or cloud gaming is a way of playing video games through remote ‘hardware’, which corresponds to a company’s servers. So, instead of using a physical disk and installing the game on the device to play locally, It runs in the cloud and only requires an Internet connection for its funtionability.
By not having the physical game, users are normally subject to the conditions established by each cloud service to be able to use the purchased titles. This is the case of the main video game development companies such as PlayStation, Xbox, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Epic Games or Valve, which offer ‘online’ platforms where users can purchase titles, which are stored in their personal accounts and which can be play through the cloud.
Taking all this into account, this system of online platforms raises some questions about what happens to the games purchased when the account owner is no longer able to use this service for reasons such as, for example, death, since no one else can access the purchased video gamesnot even if the owner so wishes.
An example of this inconvenience has recently been put on the table by Valve, owner of Steam, which, in response to a user, has indicated that it does not allow the transfer of an account, or its library of titles, to another person, as stated. in their policies. Not even if the titular user has died and I want to leave it as an inheritanceor allow other people to access your purchased video games.
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As determined by Valve in its policies, Steam accounts and all video games they contain They are a non-transferable service, regardless of the situation. Additionally, Steam Support “cannot provide another person with access to the account,” nor can it merge access with another account.
Following this line, the company also clarifies that the profile should not be shared or allowed to be used by other users in question, “except if expressly authorized by Valve.” In fact, if you allow another person to access the account, for example, by sharing your access credentials, you would be violating the provision on confidentiality of the account.
Therefore, the company has confirmed that, in the event of the user’s death, the Steam account cannot be transferred through a will and, with this, all the video games it contains are obsolete.
Europa Press has contacted PlayStation, Ubisoft, Xbox and Nintendo to find out what would happen to user accounts and their products purchased on their respective platforms in the event of death, but They have not been able to offer an answer.
However, they maintain policies very similar to those of Valve. For example, as PlayStation specifies on its Terms and Conditions of Use page for its PlayStation Plus service, “except as otherwise expressly granted, all rights to PlayStation Plus content are reserved by Sony. Interactive Entertainment, its partners and licensors.
It also indicates that games downloaded through PlayStation Plus are available to play as long as you have a valid subscription and the game is still available on the service. However, in the event that the subscription expires, any service cannot be used.
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In this sense, it is likely that when the user dies, the subscription ends up ending and, therefore, full access to the account and the video games is lost. That is, the use of these video games ends when the user dies.
What happens with the social networks of deceased
Unlike video game platforms, other online services, such as social networks, do have their own policies on what to do when the owner of an account dies.
This is the case of platforms such as Instagram or Facebook, which have options that allow these profiles to be preserved for the family and friends of the user in question. This option is known as memorial beads.
As Instagram explains on its help page, users can notify the platform when an account becomes that of someone who has died. So, they now have two options– Request to become a memorial account or permanently delete the profile.
In the event that a memorial account is requested and the company must evaluate a request with a document proving the death, like an obituary or an obituary in the newspaper. After that, the account becomes a commemorative account and the social network carries out actions such as preventing references to this profile from appearing that could sadden friends or family.
Likewise, also profile is locked in order to protect privacy of the deceased person. However, this is not deleted so that your social media memories are also preserved, just as photos of loved ones are preserved in real life.
Furthermore, it must be taken into account that, although the death of the user has been confirmed, the company cannot provide login information of said memorial account.
In the case of Facebook, in addition to memorial accounts, it also allows you to select “legacy contacts.” That is, profiles of other users who, when the account holder dies, you can continue managing your profile.
As explained on its help page, legacy contacts now take care of the profile of the deceased if this becomes commemorative. Thus, the selected contact can accept friend requests and change the profile and cover photo, among other things.
WhatsApp, for its part, does not offer the same options, but rather It only allows you to delete the account of the deceased. However, if the user’s death is not reported, WhatsApp will end up canceling the account after a period of uselessness.
The same occurs with
