A court in Beijing has ruled that a mother is legally entitled to inherit her late son’s 87 online gaming accounts, recognising them as protected virtual assets under China’s Civil Code.
The ruling followed a legal dispute between the woman and a gaming company that refused to transfer ownership of the accounts after her son died.
According to Chinese media, the deceased, identified by his surname Gu, was a 36-year-old gaming enthusiast who had spent more than a decade building up his collection of accounts.
Since his twenties, he had registered 87 real-name verified gaming accounts with the same game developer, investing significant amounts of time, money and effort to increase their levels and accumulate valuable in-game assets.
Gu died from a serious illness in May 2025, leaving behind his elderly mother after his father had passed away years earlier.
Following his death, his mother, identified as Chen, learned that the gaming accounts had considerable market value and applied to have them transferred to her name so she could sell them to help cover her living expenses.
However, the gaming company rejected the request, arguing that under its user agreement, ownership of the accounts and all virtual items belonged to the company, while players were granted only limited usage rights.
The company also argued that gaming accounts were personal in nature and therefore could not be treated as inheritable property.
After reviewing the case, the Shijingshan District People’s Court ruled that although the company retained ownership of the accounts, the user’s rights to operate the accounts, virtual items and related digital assets carried measurable economic value and qualified as virtual property protected under China’s Civil Code.
The court noted that Gu’s daughter had formally waived her inheritance rights, making Chen his sole legal heir.
It ordered the gaming company to transfer the real-name registration of all 87 gaming accounts to Chen within 15 days after the judgment took effect.
Neither party has appealed the ruling.
The decision is being viewed as a significant legal precedent in China, reinforcing that virtual assets with economic value can form part of a deceased person’s estate and may be inherited under the law.
