HoYoverse Sues ‘Honkai Star Rail’ Player for $150K Over Character Leak

HoYoverse has reportedly sued a Honkai: Star Rail player after they streamed an early build of Castorice. The Genshin Impact studio alleges that the streamer leaked the 5-Star character during a broadcast in front of 12,000 people.

‘Honkai’ Player reportedly sued

In a June 16 report by Stephen Totilo’s Game File, it was revealed that HoYoverse has sued a Honkai: Star Rail player for $150k. According to court documents, the gacha developer allegedly filed a lawsuit in California courts. After discovering the player’s real identity, HoYoverse has pursued a copyright claim against them. The court case could see them paying thousands of dollars to the studio.

In the lawsuit, HoYoverse claims that the Honkai: Star Rail player streamed an early build of the game on Discord. During the broadcast, the player reportedly gave fans an early preview of 5-Star character Castorice. At the time of the Discord livestream, the Quantum character was still a month away from her release.

While Castorice had already been announced by this point, she didn’t make her debut until the Version 3.2 update on April 8, 2025. Based on the reported lawsuit, it appears that the Genshin Impact creator is arguing that the player committed copyright infringement by broadcasting unreleased material that he didn’t own. It’s unclear how the player obtained the early build. Content creators often get access to test builds for previews and reviews, but they have to sign strict NDAs.

HoYoverse Continues to Use Legal Tactics to Stop Leaks

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time HoYoverse has used its legal arm to go after leaks. In September 2024, the developer demanded that Twitter release information on three Genshin Impact leakers. A judge sided with miHoYo, forcing the social media giant to reveal the identities behind the leak accounts. At the time, X argued it violated the company’s free speech rights, although the California District Court ultimately ruled against them.

The Genshin Impact accounts that were involved in the lawsuit have since been suspended. While the new June 6 lawsuit centered around the early stream of Castorice is unrelated, it shows the lengths HoYoverse is willing to go to stamp out any leaks of material from their games. According to renowned games industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, HoYoverse has actually filed 500 legal cases already. “MiHoYo has initiated over 500 legal cases iirc. They even have precedent-setting cases in China that have led to certain game content leaks being labeled as a violation of trade secrets.”

Only time will tell if the Honkai: Star Rail lawsuit will lead to the player actually having to pay $150,000. But the large number will likely scare off players from attempting to post early previews of HoYoverse content in the future. I know if I were a leak account for Genshin Impact, I would be closing up shop, like, yesterday.