Estate planning as a Square Enix account holder

A Square Enix Account is the single login that holds a player's purchased digital content (Square Enix Store orders, game licenses, downloadable titles), any Crysta balance, and the FINAL FANTASY XIV and FINAL FANTASY XI "service accounts" that in turn hold characters and subscriptions. Square Enix licenses these accounts, characters, and in-game virtual goods rather than selling ownership of them; under its terms they are non-transferable and have no monetary value. The estate-relevant facts are that nothing on the account can be transferred to family or the estate, and that an active FFXIV or FFXI subscription keeps billing on a recurring basis until it is cancelled.

When a Square Enix account holder dies, their account are forfeited. The program's terms state that account do not constitute property of the account holder and cannot be transferred upon death, by operation of law, or through estate planning documents.

What happens at death

A Square Enix Account and everything attached to it is forfeited at death. Square Enix grants only "a limited, non-exclusive, cancellable, non-assignable, non-sublicensable, and non-transferable license" to use the Services, and states that characters and in-game virtual goods are provided on a non-transferable basis and have no monetary value, with players acquiring no ownership or property rights in them. For FINAL FANTASY XIV, Square Enix states that all character data is tied to the service account on which it was created and that it is unable to move character data to another service account or Square Enix Account. Because the account, characters, purchased licenses, and any Crysta balance cannot be transferred to family or to the estate, the practical step after a death is to cancel any recurring FFXIV or FFXI subscription so it stops billing, and to cancel the Square Enix Account itself if desired. Square Enix warns that once an account is cancelled it cannot be recovered, along with all content and services associated with it, and that it does not provide refunds on subscriptions.

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