Genshin Impact Dev Received Over $5.3 Million in Damages for Leaks and Cheats

Genshin Impact developer miHoYo has revealed it received over $5.3 million in legal compensation over multiple lawsuits against leaks, cheats, fake goods, and more in 2025. As one of the most popular gacha titles of recent years, Genshin Impact has been no stranger to dealing with illegal content distribution. In consequence, miHoYo has continuously battled against these activities, at times leading 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 arguably its most widely-known work, miHoYo has launched plenty of hit games, including Honkai: Star Rail, Zenless Zone Zero, and Honkai: Impact 3rd. MiHoYo also confirmed that it plans on releasing Genshin Impact content for another decade at least. However, the game’s popularity has prompted its developers to constantly face leaks and fraudulent actions, sometimes affecting players’ experiences. Recently, miHoYo disclosed how it has successfully dealt with users who threaten its IPs in the past year.

Genshin Impact Developer MiHoYo Won $5.3 Million in Damages Over Illegal Content

In a translated March 8 official WeChat post by miHoYo’s Legal Department, the company shared an overview of its 2025 Intellectual Property Protection and Rights Enforcement Annual Report. The post reveals that miHoYo received over 37 million yuan (approximately $5.3 million) in legal compensation and settlements over infringements. The developer detailed that legal action was taken against cases of leaks, cheats, illegal private servers, defamation, counterfeit merchandise, and unlawful account selling. According to miHoYo, 2,388 people were found liable for their actions, out of whom 1,240 issued public apologies. 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 were held accountable, and miHoYo even revealed some of their online identities to the public after they were criminally sentenced or ordered to pay compensation. The report also detailed that 109,242 links containing illegal content were taken down and 988 infringing accounts were banned. The developer also helped the police with 22 criminal cases and the administrative authorities with 21 violations. MiHoYo stated that it received over 100,000 infringement reports and leads from players, for which it expressed gratitude and reassured its commitment to crack down on illegal activities of this nature. The news comes shortly after former miHoYo staff members were sentenced to time in prison for soliciting bribes from partner companies.

Over the years, miHoYo has been known for its rigid stance against the sharing of unreleased gaming content and cheats. In 2022, some Genshin Impact content creators served jail time for distributing and selling cheats. The users received a $50,000 fine as well. More recently, in June 2025, a Honkai: Star Rail player was sued for $150,000 by Cognosphere, miHoYo’s publisher, for streaming unreleased gameplay. It can be hard for video game studios to track down leakers, but it seems miHoYo is set on doubling down against these practices.

MiHoYo has multiple plans to push forward its growth with titles like Honkai: Nexus Anima, Petit Planet, and Varsapura already in the works. Meanwhile, the developer is also busy with Ufotable’s Genshin Impact anime, though there’s still no release date for the project yet. Genshin Impact recently teased Linnea as well, a new character set for release in the anticipated Version 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 pull for up to ten 5-Star characters in the game’s banners, including new Anemo unit Varka.