Young Chinese write game accounts into wills and testaments

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- At 33, online game fancier Guan Shengxuan is considering listing his game accounts into a will ahead of the Qingming tomb-sweeping festival that falls on Wednesday this year.

Guan treasures his emotional bond with Counter-Strike, DOTA2 and Dungeon Fighter, but more importantly, such accounts have a real value: his collection of gears, skins and other items in these titles are worth about 100,000 yuan (about 14,500 U.S. dollars) in total.

"I love racing motorcycles, which is a bit risky. So, in the unlikely event that something were to happen to me, my girlfriend could sell these things on the game trading platforms," the Beijing resident said.

Talking about death has long been considered a cultural taboo in China, but individuals like Guan represent a new generation of Chinese who embrace a more open attitude toward the inevitable and are fine with writing their last wills while being young and healthy.

According to the China Will Registration Center (CWRC), a growing number of Chinese born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s have begun to write wills. In 2020, the center received a will from a 17-year-old web-based writer.

"I often work under pressure and write late into the night, and the news of sudden deaths among young people prompted me to seriously consider making a will," said the writer who prefers to use the pseudonym Xiaoliang.

One feature of such young people's testament is the listing of virtual assets, such as game accounts that contain characters, weapons and armor in virtual reality.

As of the end of 2022, the CWRC had received 458 wills involving virtual assets, one-sixth of which were about online game accounts.

"Online games have become a big part of the lives of young Chinese, and the economic value of game accounts is increasing with the boom in the game industry," said Hu Haiyang, a staff member of the CWRC.

China had 664 million game users last year, exceeding the populations of many countries, and actual sales in the game market reached 265.8 billion yuan, according to an industry report released in February.

The prospering gaming sector has turned many virtual items into valuable assets. In some online games, cosmetic options for characters can cost a few hundred yuan to over 1,000 yuan. Some gears have reportedly fetched more than 1 million yuan in online transactions.

China has heightened legal protection of virtual property in recent years. The Civil Code, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, included protection of virtual property for the first time. The Law on Protection of Personal Information implemented on Nov. 1, 2021 made further provisions on the disposition of the online accounts of the deceased.

Based on past court decisions, game accounts and virtual currency are now considered financial property that can be inherited, said Zhang Zhipo, associate professor at the School of Law of Nankai University.

Not all inheritance of virtual assets is about money. According to the online video-sharing platform Bilibili, more than 50,000 users have agreed to turn their accounts into "memorial accounts" after their death.

Such accounts can be passed on to the deceased users' inheritors, who can receive the earnings generated by the accounts or keep them as a site of remembrance, said Xiaoxiao, who is in charge of Bilibili's memorial accounts management.

"Digital accounts are increasingly connected to real-world activities, and young Chinese are paying more heed to their virtual possessions," she added.

Gamer Dawei said he also welcomes the idea of writing game accounts into the last will, but not necessarily for financial purpose.

"Online games have become part of my life. I would like to let my friends and relatives see my footsteps in the virtual world," he said.