An emotional Reddit post is currently making waves within the gaming community: A user inquires about the moral implications of using his deceased father’s Steam account to pay tribute to him. The responses are abundant, yet they also reveal a stark legal reality that many gamers might not be aware of.
## One final achievement for Dad
On June 15, 2025, a user named “ObjectiveSad5229” shared a personal and poignant question on the r/Steam subreddit. His father, with whom he bonded over video games, had passed away four years ago. Just before his passing, he had suggested a game to his son.
Now, the son is contemplating logging into his father’s Steam account to unlock all the achievements in that game for him. However, he finds himself at a crossroads: “I would love to do it, but at the same time, for some reason, it feels wrong to use his account.”
The response to this dilemma was immense and nearly unanimous in its positivity. With thousands of upvotes and hundreds of comments, the community rallied behind the user in his intention. The consensus is clear: **It’s a heartfelt tribute, and his father would undoubtedly be proud.**
One highly-rated comment encapsulates the feelings of many: “He won’t use it anymore. It’s family. I can assure you he wouldn’t mind.” Another commenter, a father himself, adds: “As a father, I cherish the thought that my children will enjoy my games after I’m gone.”
Many commenters share their own personal anecdotes and regard a game collection on Steam as a modern familial heirloom, akin to a library of books or films.
One user recalls how he dealt with his father’s passing by finishing a level in StarCraft 2 that his father had struggled with for years: “If there is a heaven or some form of life after death, I hope he got to witness the cutscene.”
### Valve’s stringent terms of service
While the ethical dilemma was swiftly settled for the community, a sobering caution soon surfaced: **the legal aspects and Steam’s stringent terms of service.** We consulted a legal expert:
Numerous users advised the original poster against contacting Steam support or alerting Valve to the situation. The reason stems from the [Steam Subscriber Agreement](https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/), which outlines the terms and conditions that every user agrees to upon creating an account.
It specifies that a Steam account and the related game licenses are strictly personal and non-transferable. Users do not purchase games in the conventional sense but obtain a license to utilize them. This license terminates upon the account holder’s death. According to current regulations, there is no provision for the official inheritance of Steam accounts.
Several users reported cases where Steam accounts were suspended after it became known that the original account owner had passed away and family members continued to access the account. “Do not contact support under any circumstances,” one user warns emphatically. Another adds: “Steam will simply cancel the account the moment they find out the original owner has died.”
## What the community suggests
In light of this dilemma, users have come up with a series of practical recommendations on how the son can commemorate his father’s memory without endangering the account.
– **Activate invisible mode:** The most prevalent suggestion is to log into the account and immediately set the online status to “invisible.” This way, you won’t alarm any friends on your father’s friend list or raise suspicion that the account has been taken over.
– **Update the profile:** Another option is to cautiously update the profile description to inform friends of the situation and clarify that a family member is using the account in good faith.
– **Steam Family Sharing:** Some recommended leveraging Steam’s family sharing feature. For this, the son would need to log into his father’s account once and enable his own account for the family library. This would allow him to play his father’s games on his own account. However, this approach has a significant drawback: game progress and accomplishments would be recorded on his own profile rather than his father’s, thus conflicting with the user’s initial intention.
While the moral issue was rapidly resolved for the Reddit community, the unsettling legal reality remains. Beyond Steam’s terms and conditions, we want to hear your true feelings: How do you perceive this situation from a moral perspective? Would you feel content if your descendants were to inherit your game collection? Participate in our poll!
The post [Son wants to honor his late father’s Steam account, but the community warns: “Don’t tell Valve!”](https://www.global-esports.news/general/son-wants-to-honor-his-late-fathers-steam-account-but-the-community-warns-dont-tell-valve/) first appeared on [Global Esport News](https://www.global-esports.news).