Genshin Impact: MiHoYo “Leakers Hunt Decree” Explained

At the start of September, Chinese game development company miHoYo seemingly redoubled its efforts against Genshin Impact leakers. Fans are calling miHoYo’s actions the “Leakers Hunt Decree,” in reference to the Vision Hunt Decree in the game. There is an entire sub-community surrounding Genshin Impact leaks, where the most popular and prevalent leaks have to do with upcoming characters and limited banners, though other new content and gameplay features have also been revealed early. These leaks have existed for quite some time, but miHoYo seems to have decided enough is enough.

The community at large is fairly split over Genshin Impact leaks. Some players despise them, as they can ruin updates’ surprises, while others enjoy learning about new content as soon as possible. Considering miHoYo rarely shares information about upcoming additions ahead of time, players who want to know what to expect have to turn to leaks. Perhaps the easiest way to stop leakers would be to make them irrelevant by releasing a roadmap of future content, but for now, miHoYo is instead taking legal action against the leakers.

While miHoYo has sued leakers in the past, the scope of its efforts had yet to be this large. The “Leakers Hunt Decree” began when miHoYo filed a lawsuit against Bilibili (via DualShockers), the Chinese video sharing website that hosts Genshin Impact’s livestreams, in order to find the identities of 11 leakers. According to Reddit user Yamusauce, who originally shared the news, there seems to be no animosity between the two companies; because of Chinese law, miHoYo simply can’t ask for the leakers’ identities without a lawsuit. Hearings were set to begin on the September 17, though no updates have been made public as of yet. According to DualShockers, these 11 leakers have all either participated in closed beta testing and broken NDAs or shared information sourced to miHoYo employees. Unlike datamining, these are violations of legal contracts.

MiHoYo Is Cracking Down On Genshin Impact Leakers

Since the biggest suppliers of Genshin Impact leaks are these beta testers and miHoYo insiders, the average “leaker” on Twitter or Instagram is likely just using information provided by these sources. Honey Hunter World is one such leak sharing site, having often posted detailed information about upcoming characters, including videos of movesets and animations directly from the betas.

On September 10, the creator of Honey Hunter World, who goes by the username Honey, revealed they were sent a cease and desist letter from miHoYo. The company is essentially claiming a copyright violation, saying Honey Hunter World does not have the right to use its characters or materials and requesting the removal of the entire site – not just the leaks. Honey said miHoYo’s claim is “a grey area in laws, meaning MHY imply they can cancel anyone, who is doing game related contect [sic], varying from Artists, Designers and Musicians to app and website developers.” According to miHoYo’s letter, shared by Honey, it is indeed not the leaks that are the problem, but that Honey Hunter World is using Genshin Impact content, period. Conversely, miHoYo recently announced Genshin Impact’s first anniversary community event will include both an art contest and a cosplay contest.

Following the notice, Honey brought Honey Hunter World down, then reopened it under a different domain. Watermarks and copyright notices related to miHoYo were removed, as Honey said the company used the watermarks to initiate a DMCA claim against the site. It’s unclear if Honey Hunter World will be able to continue operating unpenalized after this change.

The heat from the “Leakers Hunt Decree” is being felt by other prominent community members. While miHoYo doesn’t seem to have directly targeted these individuals, popular Genshin Impact leaker WFP announced they are taking a break from leaks, while leakers Dimbreath, abc64, and Sukuna appear to have retired from leaking entirely. But even with the Bilibili lawsuit underway, leaks are still being shared around the internet about future character banners and content.

It is unclear what miHoYo can do to stop this information from being shared, beyond sharing it first. Since the 1.6 update, miHoYo has been announcing characters for the following update a patch early. So, for the 2.2 update, it is already known that Thoma will be Genshin Impact’s newest character. This may not be good enough for players wanting to know who they should save their precious Primogems for, as doing so requires knowing upcoming characters months in advance.

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