Genshin Impact Dev received over $5.3 million in damages for leaks and fraud

Genshin Impact developer miHoYo revealed that it received more than $5.3 million in legal compensation in 2025 for several lawsuits against information leaks, fraud, counterfeit goods and more. As one of the most popular Gacha titles in recent years, Genshin Impact he was no stranger to dealing with illegal content distribution. As a result, miHoYo constantly fights against these activities, which sometimes leads to massive reparations.

Chinese developer miHoYo, otherwise known as HoYoverse, is the studio behind some of today's most notable free-to-play Gacha video games. While Genshin Impact is probably his most famous work, miHoYo has launched a lot of successful games including Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zeroand Honkai: Impact 3. MiHoYo has also confirmed that it is planning a release Genshin Impact content for at least the next decade. However, the game's popularity has forced its developers to constantly face leaks and fraudulent actions that sometimes affect the players' experience. Recently, miHoYo revealed how it successfully dealt with users who compromised its IP addresses in the past year.

Genshin Impact developer MiHoYo has been awarded $5.3 million in damages for illegal content

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In a translated official WeChat post on March 8 from miHoYo's legal department, the company shared an overview of its 2025 Annual Report on Intellectual Property Protection and Rights Enforcement. The post reveals that miHoYo has received over 37 million yuan (approximately $5.3 million) in legal damages and settlements for violations. The developer described that legal action has been taken against cases of leaks, fraud, illegal private servers, defamation, counterfeit goods and illegal sale of accounts. According to miHoYo, 2,388 people have been held accountable for their actions, of which 1,240 have publicly apologized. One online leaker was ordered to pay 550,000 yuan (around $80,069) for sharing Honkai: Star Rail and Genshin Impact leaks.

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More than 300 leakers have been prosecuted and miHoYo have even revealed some of their online identities to the public after they were criminally convicted or ordered to pay restitution. The report also detailed that 109,242 links with illegal content were removed and 988 copyright-infringing accounts were banned. The developer also helped the police with 22 criminal cases and administrative authorities with 21 misdemeanors. MiHoYo said it had received more than 100,000 infringement notices and tips from players, for which it expressed its gratitude and assured its determination to crack down on illegal activities of this nature. The news comes shortly after former miHoYo employees were sentenced to prison for extorting bribes from partner companies.

Over the years, miHoYo has been known for its strong stance against sharing unreleased game content and cheats. In 2022 some Genshin Impact content creators served prison time for distributing and selling cheats. Users were also fined $50,000. Recently, in June 2025, a Honkai: Star Rail Player was sued for $150,000 by Cognosphere, the publisher of miHoYo, for streaming an unreleased game. It can be hard for video game studios to track down leaks, but miHoYo seems set to double down on those practices.

MiHoYo has several plans to push its growth with titles like Honkai: Nexus Anima, Petit Planetand Varsapura already working. Meanwhile, the developer is also busy with Ufotable's Genshin Impact anime, although there is no release date for the project yet. Genshin Impact also recently teased Linnea, a new character set for release in the expected 6.5 update. The patch is expected to launch in early April. Players can expect more information about the Luna VI update in the coming weeks. On the other hand, Genshin Impact Fans can currently get up to ten 5-star characters in the game's banners, including the new Anemo Varka unit.