A Shanghai Changning District People's Court recently issued a judgment in an unfair competition case, ruling that a defendant boosting studio's use of cheats for game boosting services constitutes unfair competition. The studio must compensate plaintiff miHoYo 3 million yuan and publish a public apology. This marks the first national case where using cheats for boosting services was deemed unfair competition.
During routine monitoring, miHoYo discovered a boosting studio on an e-commerce platform suspected of using cheats to provide boosting services. Further investigation revealed that the studio had indeed been illegally using cheats for extended periods to conduct boosting services, aiming to improve efficiency and attract more customers for illegal profits. The studio's total sales exceeded 7.6 million orders, ranking highest on the platform.
miHoYo argued that such behavior severely undermines fair gaming environments and causes losses to player rights, prompting the lawsuit demanding the studio cease infringement and compensate for related losses.
After review, the court determined that the defendant studio's actions interfered with normal game operation and management services, affected server security and stability, and impacted the in-game ecosystem. The behavior demonstrated clear impropriety, constituting unfair competition. The court ordered compensation of 3 million yuan for economic losses and reasonable expenses incurred to stop the infringement, plus publication of an apology statement in China Intellectual Property News. The judgment has taken effect.
It's worth noting that even without using cheats, commercial boosting services may still constitute unfair competition. In 2023, Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court ruled on Tencent Holding Ltd.'s lawsuit against the "Boosting Help" app operator for unfair competition, ordering immediate cessation of unfair competitive practices and compensation of 985,000 yuan for economic losses and reasonable rights protection expenses.
Tencent alleged that the "Boosting Help" app used methods like "cash rebates for orders" and establishing "Honor of Kings zones" to entice and encourage users, including minors, to engage in commercial, large-scale boosting transactions for Honor of Kings through their platform. This enabled minors to bypass anti-addiction mechanisms to enter games and earn fees.
Tencent argued this behavior put game operations at risk and significantly damaged public interest, demanding immediate cessation.
Pudong Court determined that "Boosting Help's" commercial organization of game boosting transactions demonstrated impropriety in three aspects: First, it substantially undermined Honor of Kings' fair competitive matching mechanism and game balance, harming gaming consumers' experience and legitimate interests. Second, "Boosting Help's" business was built on Honor of Kings' foundation, using Tencent's competitive online gaming interests as profit tools while causing consequences that damaged user experience and stickiness, reducing Honor of Kings' trading opportunities and economic benefits. Third, "Boosting Help's" business interfered with Tencent's normal online gaming service operations and disrupted normal game management order.