Chinese studio Hypergryph posted an update on its official Weibo account on April 27 detailing the latest developments in its crackdown on intellectual property rights violations related to Arknights and Arknights: Endfield. Several cases were addressed through civil and criminal measures, with penalties imposed on the offenders.
The most prominent case involves a large-scale leak of character artwork for Arknights’s Summer Carnival 2025 prior to the in-game event’s launch. An investigation into the matter revealed that an employee from a partnered external supplier had leaked the data (violating non-disclosure agreements), while another individual subsequently spread the information on social media. Hypergryph filed a civil lawsuit that ended with the offenders being ordered to pay a total of 1.3 million yuan (roughly $190k USD) in damages. Both individuals were also asked to write a public apology to Hypergryph, which can be found attached to the company’s latest Weibo update.
The developers also took action against leaks related to Arknights’s Spring Festival 2026 and Arknights: Endfield’s unreleased gameplay, reporting the cases to local authorities. Following an investigation that deemed the actions a violation of trade secrets, administrative orders were imposed on the leakers. Hypergryph also announced that it has identified the source behind the most recent Arknights leak, which compromised unreleased content from the upcoming seventh anniversary event. Legal investigations and measures are currently in progress.
With regards to cheaters and private servers, it was discovered that an illegal group had been creating and selling cheat programs for an approximate total of 1.2 million yuan ($175k USD) over an extended period of time. Members of the group have since been arrested and are awaiting prosecution.
Even sellers of pirated Arknights merch aren’t safe, as Hypergryph is going to great lengths (including platform complaints, civil lawsuits, and criminal prosecution) to take down bootleg products found on e-commerce sites.
To widen its reach, Hypergryph is urging fans to report any cases of leaks, cheats, or infringements to [email protected]. Those who provide information of value will be rewarded accordingly.
