Where Do Video Game Accounts, Purchases Go After The Player Dies?

Video games and mobile games have risen in popularity over the years. The industry has also seen a rise in the amount spent through in-game purchases.

This leaves the unlikely question of what happens to your video game account and the purchases after you die. A new patent could reveal the answer.

What Happened: A patent application filed in 2019 by Tencent Holdings TCEHY has been granted, according to a report from Eurogamer.

The patent centers on “digital asset certificates” and also covers digital asset inheritance.

Tencent has not announced any plans for the patent yet, but it could be an important topic in the future.

Tencent is the largest video game company in the world, with stakes in companies like Riot Games, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI and Ubisoft UBSFY. The company has popular games like “League of Legends,” “Fortnite,” “PUBG Mobile” and “Honor of Kings.”

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Why It’s Important: Video game industry expert Daniel Ahmad shared his take on what the patent could mean.

“It relates to the inheritance of digital items and assets after a person passes away,” Ahmad said.

Ahmad added that Apple Inc AAPL recently announced a digital legacy service where users can assign an administrator who can access their items after death.

“Tencent’s patent is similar but allows direct transfer of items if stated in the will.”

Digital inheritance could be more important in the future as gamers spend more and more money on in-app purchases. Without a plan, those assets become worthless if a person dies and their account isn’t used again.

Tencent’s patent could become valuable as a monetizable item for other video game companies or app providers like Apple and Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL.

In the future, just like writing a will and designating people to own your belongings in the event of death, you may also have to designate who will receive your game characters and digital assets.