Tencent, the Chinese technology conglomerate, has obtained a patent for the inheritance of digital items.
Originally filed in 2019, the patent was picked up by Tencent last week and spotted by video games analyst Daniel Ahmad.
“[It] relates to the inheritance of digital items and assets after a person passes away,” Ahmad wrote. “While not fully related to video games, it has sparked discussions online about game accounts / virtual item inheritance.”
“The timing is fairly coincidental given Apple recently announced its own digital legacy service that lets users assign an administrator that can access their digital assets after death,” Ahmad continued. “Tencent’s patent is similar, but allows direct transfer of items if stated in the will.”
In particular, the patent relates to “digital asset certificates” – video game licenses, perhaps, if said licenses allowed for such a provision in the future.
Apple’s own Digital Legacy service is a little different. Similar to Facebook’s ability to set a legacy contact, it allows access to your account in the event of your death, as well as the ability to unlock a particular device.