Game Developer miHoYo Wins Lawsuit Over Game Information Leak

Chinese game developer miHoYo announced a legal victory in a case concerning the leak of confidential information about its popular game, Genshin Impact. The company had sued a former test player who shared unreleased character and activity details from the game's 4.4 version to an overseas Telegram channel. The court ruled that the tester, identified as Jin, infringed on miHoYo's trade secrets by photographing and disseminating the non-public content.

The ruling mandates Jin to cease the infringement and pay miHoYo 500,000 yuan (approximately $68,500 USD) in damages and legal expenses. Jin had signed a non-disclosure agreement prior to participating in offline testing but proceeded to use a mobile phone to capture and share the information, despite explicit prohibitions against copying or disclosing test content.

MiHoYo's legal department stated that the leaker's actions led to the widespread dissemination of critical development content online. The company emphasized its capability for technical tracing and legal recourse, asserting that cross-border distribution does not serve as an immunity shield against accountability.

In related proceedings, miHoYo is also pursuing legal action against an individual identified as Zhai, who allegedly operated the overseas Telegram channel. Zhai is accused of actively recruiting and instigating testers, including Jin, to leak information and further processing the leaked material, such as applying AI to a leaked character image to obscure its origin. The court's final decision in Jin's case upholds the initial ruling, dismissing Jin's appeal and confirming the original penalty.