HoYoverse has won a copyright lawsuit worth $1.5 million against a group of “self-proclaimed hackers” who helped make Genshin Impact cheat tools. Law firm DLA Piper has confirmed that they have received a judgment in favor of the Chinese game publisher. This lawsuit started back in February when HoYoverse sued Joaquin Soriano and several others for copyright infringement tied to hacking tools. After several months with no news, the Canadian court finally decided to side with the company.
This lawsuit started when HoYoverse took notice of popular cheat tools called Akebi GC, Acrepi, and Genshin XYZ. These programs allow players to ignore the game mechanics and cheat the system. Besides allowing them to easily clear content, some even give the ability to access special benefits locked behind in-game purchases.
Initially, the plaintiff sought to recover $50,000 in damages, but the final amount ended up being around $1.5 million. This may have been caused by the defendant continuing to spread the Genshin Impact cheat software despite repeated warnings from HoYoverse.
HoYoverse is able to punish cheat software creators by claiming that their programs violate copyright laws. This is true since, in order to make these cheats, the hackers needed to use Genshin Impact’s codes. This is a clear violation of copyright laws, which makes it easy to see why the court sided with the company.
HoYoverse has always been opposed to players modding or tinkering with its games. Before this lawsuit, the company implemented strict anti-cheat measures and even banned players after using mods or third-party programs. Some fans even claimed that the company issued a wave of bans every September. “Some of those who appealed got extended to 1 year,” one player wrote.
This lawsuit is definitely a way for HoYoverse to discourage other hackers from making cheat tools for their games. However, this victory against these cheat creators may also signal other companies to start pursuing legal measures against other hackers.
