In 2024, the global gaming skins market was valued at over $50 billion. Individual CS2 knife skins regularly sell for $5,000 to $50,000. Rare Fortnite accounts with OG skins trade for thousands. Yet almost none of these assets are covered by any form of estate planning.
Why gaming inventories get overlooked
Gaming assets occupy a strange space in most people's understanding of value. Parents may not realize their child's Steam account contains thousands of dollars in tradeable items. A partner might not know that a Roblox developer account generates monthly revenue. Gaming inventories are invisible wealth, existing behind login screens that outsiders rarely see.
Platform-specific challenges
- Steam - accounts are non-transferable per ToS, but items can be traded to another account before or after verification
- Epic Games (Fortnite) - no official account transfer process, account sharing violates ToS
- Roblox - developer accounts with active games can generate ongoing Robux revenue
- World of Warcraft - Blizzard has specific deceased player policies but limits transfers
- CS2 - trade holds, market restrictions, and Steam Guard add complexity to item recovery
The key distinction: most platforms prohibit account transfers but allow in-game item transfers or trades. Your estate plan should focus on preserving item value, not account access.
What gamers should document
At minimum, document which platforms you have accounts on, what items or currencies have value, how to access the account (with recovery codes stored securely), and what you want done with the items. Should they be transferred to a specific person? Sold and the proceeds distributed? Kept as-is?
A digital executor service like Carryr is particularly useful for gaming assets because it can store platform-specific instructions alongside encrypted access details, so the person executing your wishes does not need to be a gamer themselves.