BERLIN: When you die in a game, you can usually go back to the last place where you saved your progress. When you die in real life, however, all those games are gone. That appears to be the verdict from one of the world's largest marketplaces for video games.

"Unfortunately, Steam accounts and games are non-transferable," reads a response from Steam Support published online after a query from a customer. "I regret to inform you that your Steam account cannot be transferred via a will."

Steam operator Valve says it's also unable to pass on a late user's login details or to merge accounts. In other words, when you die, your collection of games on the Steam platform dies with you.

Valve's policy, while it perhaps makes sense from a business perspective, is a tough sell to anyone who has played games with a loved one, only to find out their collection of purchases can't be accessed.

However, as reported by tech website Ars Technica, there is a workaround to ensure the continued existence of a game library: cheating.

The General Terms and Conditions (GTC) prohibit the transfer of access data to third parties without consent. However, if you write down your login details for family members and/or friends, then Valve's platform operators will find it difficult to identify who is playing in real life.

However, as one affected person explained on Reddit, your collection's would-be successor will need to get past the two-factor authentication hurdle with a means of confirming your login, such as a linked email account.

 - dpa