Genshin Impact update 1.5 leaks prompt MiHoYo to crack down on leakers

Following a recent wave of Genshin Impact update 1.5 leaks, developer MiHoYo plans to increase its efforts "to deal with such illegal disclosures."

"Recently, we discovered the dissemination of leaked version 1.5 content," the studio said in a tweet on Wednesday. "Such behavior not only disrupts our plans to develop and promote the new version, but also causes some Travelers to have misconceptions about the content of the new version. Here, we kindly ask for the support and help of all Travelers to resist leaks, and maintain a fair gaming environment. We will also increase our efforts to deal with such illegal disclosures."

The update 1.5 leaks surfaced over the weekend via several Twitter and Reddit posts, not to mention wiki pages and Discord communities. If you want to see the full list of leaks, you'll find them compiled on the Genshin Impact subreddit. If you'd rather stay spoiler-free and wait for the official update 1.5 reveal event – which is roughly six weeks away, given that update 1.4 just arrived – you might want to be careful on social media going forward.

This isn't the first time MiHoYo has gone after leakers. As early as fall 2020, many Genshin Impact YouTubers and Twitch streamers confirmed that MiHoYo had asked them to avoid discussing leaks in their videos and streams. This seemed to be partially motivated by the blowback to the character Zhongli, whose abilities were leaked early on and then reportedly toned down for release based on beta testing. Several content creators who ignored this warning were subsequently hit with copyright strikes and booted from the official Genshin Impact content creator program. Genshin Impact beta testers, particularly among the Chinese community, have also reportedly been hit with costly lawsuits after leaking upcoming content.

Genshin Impact invites players to test new content ahead of time – English invites for update 1.5 went out just this morning according to a post on the game's official Discord – and despite increasingly strict NDAs, leaks continue to pour from these tests. However, beta tests are far from the only source. Data mining and other reverse-engineering has uncovered character and enemy models in the past, for instance. Of course, as with all leaks, these findings should be treated as unconfirmed until they're actually announced. Character names, models, abilities, and other details may be changed or discarded before they arrive, if they're released at all. That being said, while MiHoYo's statement suggests that some of the recently leaked content is legitimately planned for update 1.5, there's no guarantee that all of it is legit or that it will arrive as-is.