“if you can obtain a copy of a court order...we’ll do our best to make it happen" Unlike Steam, Good Old Games claims they are willing to transfer accounts to entitled parties after a user's death
Imagine inheriting a GOG account originally registered by your great-great grandpa containing ungodly amount of games you can't possibly play all of them in a lifetime.
ungodly amount of games
And 90% of them are hentai visual novels.
if u dont have that grandpa, please, be that grandpa
excuse me daddy's got a taste for pigeon
Typical Grandpa
Jackpot.
All for a CPU and OS that no longer exists. Anybody got a "PC" emulator? What's a mouse?
To be fair, a lot of GOG games are already for CPUs and OS's that don't exist. Like, a significant amount of their library was meant to run in DOS on a 486. They're pretty fucking good at making that not be a problem.
Like other mentioned, a lot of old games sold right now actually packaged with dosbox. Some even packaged with Wine so it can run on different platforms. The real problem would be emulating current modern graphic stacks but that would be future preservists' problem.
There is VM software like VirtualBox you can use the run older versions of Windows. I’ve had better experience running old games through Windows XP in VirtualBox than directly on Windows 10.
That's either awesome or diplomatic. But a court order shouldn't be needed, that implies going to court which isn't necessary in some countries.
You always need some kind of proof of death. I assume a death certificate would be enough
A death certificate is very much not a court order. A death certificate is often available to anyone who wants to demonstrate that someone is dead.
It'd be like using mailing address as proof of identity. Someone's mailing address is in some ways less public than their death certificate.
It's confusing phrasing by GOG, but I take it to mean a court order settling an estate or other similar documentation. Which makes sense, since otherwise you could claim someone is dead and just social engineer yourself a free account.
https://respawnfirst.com/what-happens-to-your-gog-account-if-you-die-gog-confirms-policy/
Their full statement is really just that they'll comply with a court order specifically relating to the library, less a general estate settlement.
In general, your GOG account and GOG content is not transferable. However, if you can obtain a copy of a court order that specifically entitles someone to your GOG personal account… we’ll do our best to make it happen.
This is really just a more casual phrasing of valves policy.
Steam accounts and games are non-transferable. Steam support can’t provide someone else with access to the account or merge its contents with another account. Your Steam account cannot be transferred via a will.
It's not like valve is going to ignore a court order either.
Sorry, I'm not sure I understand where you're getting your limitation on GOG and expansive interpretation on Valve.
GOG's says a court order that "specifically entitled someone to your GOG personal account" is enough. Arguably a will that leaves "my personal GOG account," recognized by a court determining estate, would suffice. Why wouldn't it?
Conversely, Valve is specific that Steam accounts "cannot be transferred via a will." Not only is Valve affirmatively denying a will qualifies, it seems Valve is likely relying on an interpretation that the account is not descendible in the first place.
Which makes sense, since otherwise you could claim someone is dead and just social engineer yourself a free account.
Hey its me ur [dead] brother.
the fact that gog is even in business is impressive to me.
You mean to tell me you can actually make money and run a successful company by just, respecting the customers? And giving them what they want? Even in late stage capitalism?
we don't deserve GOG.
If the words on the internet are to be believed, GOG's been running at a loss all this while, with papa Witcher covering the costs. Maintaining a large library of games is expensive.
that would make sense.
God speed GOG.
Wouldn't Steam also need to follow a Court Order? Like, wouldn't they be legally forced to? Because if they didn't adhere to it they would be found in Contempt of Court, which is a pretty big deal legally speaking.
IANAL, but.. I'm guessing GOG is of the opinion that they're selling you a license that you own, and can thus bequeath to your heirs, where Steam is of the opinion they're selling you a nontransferable license, so a will bequeathing it to someone would be seeking to enforce something you lack permission to do.
Neither am I lol.
Aren't non-transferable licenses basically illegal or void in the US because they violate the First-Sale-Doctrine though? Or perhaps it does not apply to digital products and that is how Valve applies it to Steam accounts?
I think is a bit strange that Steam is so adamant on that. Sure in total every game of an inherited account might be a lot, but most are old games they sell for 5 bucks or less. How many of these old games would've been bought again from the new owner? I have little time for old games or old media, so it would be like getting grandpa Joes old book collection. It's not worthless but the emotional value is probably higher than the real use. Steam gets 30% of every game sold, seams enough to cover account forwarding.
I think the phrasing is wrong. GoG wants a public document detailing the legal estate transfer. Can’t just email them a death certificate and claim your a beloved grandson.
People have died because of wills. Shit gets messy.
Maybe GOG, being DRM free, has better terms from publishers.
If the law says you can transfer licenses posthumously to someone, businesses are compelled to do so. No private agreement is above the law.
If the business granting the license doesn't consent and they pull it they are then able to be sued for violating a law allowing posthumous transfer of license.
I think they may have meant a probate court. Steam can ignore or argue against a probate court on several grounds and might have to be taken to a judicial court, GOG may be claiming they would accept the judgement of a probate court. Definitely needs to be expanded upon and clarified.