There’s no doubt that many gamers have heard of miHoYo’s game, “Genshin Impact,” which was the top game on both the Apple and Google platforms in 2020. This clearly shows the game’s popularity. However, some unscrupulous individuals have come up with the idea of creating “cheats” for the game.
Recently, the Shanghai Xuhui Court heard a case of this nature. In June 2021, the Shanghai Xuhui Public Security Bureau successfully cracked down on a case involving the production and sale of cheats for the “Genshin Impact” game, arresting three suspects. The total涉案amount was approximately 2 million RMB. After the trial, the three defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from four years to one and a half years.
The court’s judgment document shows that from October 2020 to May 2021, defendant Zhou, in conjunction with other defendants such as Sun, contacted defendant Yao to obtain data related to “Genshin Impact.” Yao then provided this data to Zhou for the development and production of the “KQ” cheat program for the game.
According to forensic analysis, from October 2020 to May 2021, defendant Zhou sold a total of over 40,000 cheat cards, totaling approximately 2 million RMB.
The illegal “KQ cheat” seriously disrupted the game’s fairness, interfered with the gaming experience of the general public, and caused significant economic losses to the game itself, with a huge negative impact.
Upon receiving a report from miHoYo, the Xuhui Public Security Bureau immediately launched an investigation, successfully locking down the suspects and gathering substantial evidence, leading to their arrest.
In August 2021, the People’s Procuratorate of the Xuhui District, Shanghai, charged the suspects with the crime of providing illegal control over computer information systems programs and filed a public prosecution. The court accepted the case and publicly opened the trial.
The prosecution argued that the defendants, in pursuit of illegal gains, jointly produced and sold cheat programs that could infiltrate and control computer systems. Their actions violated Article 285 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, which states that they should be held criminally responsible for providing illegal control over computer information systems programs.
After the trial, the court found the prosecution’s charges to be correct. All three defendants admitted to their guilt and had returned their ill-gotten gains. Ultimately, the court sentenced the main defendant, Zhou, to four years in prison and a fine of 50,000 RMB; the main defendant, Sun, to three and a half years in prison and a fine of 50,000 RMB; and the secondary defendant, Yao, to one and a half years in prison and a fine of 10,000 RMB.
In recent years, with the rapid development of China’s online gaming industry, the black market of “cheats” and “server farms” has also emerged.
In June 2020, the National Copyright Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Internet Information Office launched the “Sword Net 2020” special operation. Regulatory authorities have continuously cracked down on the “black and gray market” of cheats and server farms for online games.
Multiple similar cases have been cracked, including:
In August 2020, the Gaoyou Public Security Bureau cracked a major game cheat case, dismantling four game cheat operation groups and arresting 22 suspects.
In March 2021, the Kunshan Public Security Bureau of Suzhou cracked the world’s largest game cheat case, with suspects operating in multiple countries and regions.
In December 2021, the Taixing Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province, under the Xuhui District Police Department, announced the successful cracking of an infringement case on online games, arresting four suspects and dismantling a black game industry interest chain that operated game “server farms” for profit.
These unscrupulous individuals are often met with severe criminal penalties. Multiple cases on the China Judgments Online show that producing and selling cheats and server farms can be considered as criminal acts such as illegally controlling computer information systems programs and copyright infringement.
The defendants