miHoYo (Genshin Impact) has filed 7 civil lawsuits against Bilibili (a UGC video platform similar to Youtube) in a single day at People’s Court of Xuhui District, Shanghai.
Bilibili has one of the biggest Genshin Impact communities in China, but the organization itself is also one of the major anime-style mobile game publishers and naturally a direct competitor of miHoYo. In the past, the relationship between two companies is rather friendly. They’ve done a lot of collaborations, and some technical directors of miHoYo are also famous mikudance content creators. These lawsuits have certainly stirred up some rumors and conversations.
miHoYo and Bilibili would not have commented on the reason for this trail of lawsuits. But considering the two companies’ past, and all 7 cases falling inside the category of internet copyright violation, a very likely explanation is that these lawsuits are a necessary process for miHoYo to find moles within the company.
Since Genshin Impact’s phenomenal launch, the game has suffered from insider leaks. New updates and content are flying around long before their official release date. Being the largest UGC video platform in China, there are a couple of uploaders who deliberately focus on Genshin Impact leaks. Through lawsuits, miHoYo can request Bilibili to collaborate on their investigations, and legally provide personal information of these uploaders.
Superpixel will keep tracking the development of these lawsuits.