What happens to GOG accounts when the owner dies
GOG sp. z o.o. (Michal Kicinski) has a formal process for transferring accounts after an account holder dies
GOG Support
GOG publishes no timeline for estate or court-order requests, and no bereavement intake at all -- everything runs through the general support queue. Account deletion, once confirmed by email, completes within 14 days, and the deletion can be cancelled from account settings during that window; afterwards removal is permanent and irrevocable. GOG publishes no inactivity deletion policy, so accounts are not documented as expiring for non-use, which gives estates more time to act than platforms with dormancy deletion.
(General customer service)
GOG publishes no death, bereavement, or estate policy at all. The GOG User Agreement classifies accounts and content as personal and non-transferable: section 3.3 reads "Your GOG account and GOG content are personal to you and cannot be shared with, sold, gifted or transferred to anyone else." Section 8.2 applies the same rule to Virtual Goods, which "cannot be 'bought', 'sold', gifted, transferred or redeemed." Nothing in the Agreement addresses what happens on the account holder's death, so there is no automatic forfeiture clause and no automatic transfer right -- any request is handled individually through general GOG Support. GOG has been reported in the gaming press (June 2024, attributed to GOG spokesperson Zuzanna Rybacka) as willing to consider an account transfer where a court order specifically entitles a named person to the account, covers the digital content and the EULAs of the games in it, and names the GOG username or account email; that statement has never been published on a GOG-owned page and could not be corroborated on one. Independently of the account question, GOG's DRM-free model means offline backup installers already downloaded function without any account, client, or server, so already-downloaded game files remain usable regardless of account status.
How to request a transfer
To request a transfer of GOG accounts after an account holder's death, follow these steps:
- •Specifically entitles the named heir or executor to the decedent's GOG personal account
- •Covers the digital content attached to the account, taking into account the EULAs of the specific games within it
- •References the GOG username or at least the email address used to create the account
Required Documents
- Court order specifically referencing the GOG username or account email (for any account transfer request)
- Certified copy of the death certificate (for a closure request)
- GOG username and/or email address on file with the account
- Government-issued photo ID of the executor or heir submitting the request
- Letters testamentary, letters of administration, or equivalent proof of authority to act for the estate
Timeline
GOG publishes no timeline for estate or court-order requests, and no bereavement intake at all -- everything runs through the general support queue. Account deletion, once confirmed by email, completes within 14 days, and the deletion can be cancelled from account settings during that window; afterwards removal is permanent and irrevocable. GOG publishes no inactivity deletion policy, so accounts are not documented as expiring for non-use, which gives estates more time to act than platforms with dormancy deletion.
Frequently asked questions
GOG publishes no inheritance policy either way. Section 3.3 of the GOG User Agreement states that "Your GOG account and GOG content are personal to you and cannot be shared with, sold, gifted or transferred to anyone else," and nothing in the Agreement addresses death. GOG has been reported in the gaming press (June 2024, attributed to a GOG spokesperson) as willing to consider transferring an account to a named person against a qualifying court order, but that statement does not appear on any GOG-owned page and GOG promises no outcome. Separately, GOG's DRM-free offline backup installers run without any account, so already-downloaded game files stay usable regardless of what happens to the account.
The GOG Wallet FAQ states the Wallet and its funds "do not constitute electronic money of any kind and are non-transferable and non-exchangeable under any circumstances," have no value outside GOG services, have no cash value, and cannot be gifted, sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of. The same FAQ states that "GOG Wallet funds that are considered legally to be unclaimed property may be turned over to the applicable authority," which is the only published route by which a balance leaves GOG. Funds are also lost when an account is removed. The maximum Wallet balance is $500. While the account is accessible, funds can still be spent on GOG.COM, and anything purchased becomes a DRM-free installer the estate can download.
With credentials, account removal is requested at gog.com/account/settings/delete_account; GOG emails a confirmation request, the profile is permanently deleted within 14 days after that confirmation, and the deletion can be cancelled from account settings during that window. Without credentials, submit a ticket through GOG's account contact form with the username, the email address on file, proof of authority, and a certified death certificate. Before closing, download the offline backup installers and save the order history -- GOG states that once removal completes, access to the library, redeemed codes, and Wallet funds is permanently lost and purchases are not automatically refunded.
No. GOG publishes no bereavement page, no estates department, and no customer service phone number -- support is ticket-based through support.gog.com. A search of GOG's own help center returns no articles on deceased users or estates. An executor's written request therefore goes into the general support queue, and GOG publishes no processing timeline for it.
After the transfer is complete, the recipient can use the accounts according to the program's standard terms. Document the deceased account holder's details to make this process easier for your executor or family.
Sources
Data sourced from GOG sp. z o.o. (Michal Kicinski) primary sources (8 pages reviewed). How we research.
GOG Support
GOG publishes no timeline for estate or court-order requests, and no bereavement intake at all -- everything runs through the general support queue. Account deletion, once confirmed by email, completes within 14 days, and the deletion can be cancelled from account settings during that window; afterwards removal is permanent and irrevocable. GOG publishes no inactivity deletion policy, so accounts are not documented as expiring for non-use, which gives estates more time to act than platforms with dormancy deletion.
(General customer service)
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