A grieving father on Reddit shared his poignant story after losing his son, hoping to pass on his son’s extensive Steam library to fellow gamers. Despite his desire to keep the account active, Valve’s policies complicate matters, as gifting games or transferring accounts is forbidden. The gaming community responded with sympathy and proposed creating a Steam Family account to preserve the son’s legacy. The father expressed gratitude for the support while navigating these challenges.
A Father’s Heartfelt Gesture on Reddit
In a moving post on Reddit, a grieving father shared his heartfelt story following the sudden loss of his son last October. In the face of deep sorrow, he yearns for his son’s Steam library to be passed on to others, aiming to turn this tragic chapter into a source of positivity. Unfortunately, he faces challenges due to Valve’s policies.
The Legacy of a Passionate Gamer
As Localone2412 recounts, his son was an avid gamer, boasting an extensive collection of titles on Steam. Rather than letting this library fade into oblivion, he wishes to share it with fellow gamers. He is reluctant to close his son’s account, as it would be too painful, and hopes that something good can arise from this difficult situation.
The gaming community reacted with empathy to his story but also raised concerns about the implications of Steam’s rules. According to these regulations, gifting games already owned in a library is prohibited. Furthermore, if Valve becomes aware of the account holder’s passing, they could potentially shut down the account, resulting in the loss of cherished games and memories.
Steam’s policy clearly states that account sharing or transferring is not permitted: ‘Steam does not allow simultaneous use of the same account by multiple people. Games associated with a Steam account are granted exclusively to the account holder.’
A Community Solution for a Grieving Father
Despite these challenges, the community rallied to offer a potential solution that would allow the father to retain his son’s account, even if he cannot gift the games. Several users suggested creating a Steam Family account. This option would enable him to preserve his son’s account, including all playtime, achievements, and rankings, while allowing friends and family to access the games.
Steam Families were initially designed to unite family members on one account, providing parental controls to help monitor gaming habits and purchases. While this system wasn’t necessarily created to accommodate the accounts of deceased users, it presents an opportunity for the father to maintain his son’s legacy without Steam’s knowledge. In a response to the community, he expressed his struggle to access his son’s PC and account but appreciated their support. We hope that he can successfully keep his son’s account and that Steam might consider relaxing its policies in such sensitive circumstances.
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