"In-test server leaks again!" In the gaming circle, this seemingly excited exclamation may be followed by hundreds of millions of yuan in commercial losses. In 2024, the "Mi Mou Technology v. Chen Mou 'Spoiler' Case Involving Unreleased Game Characters" heard by the Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court marked the first national judgment applying pre-litigation preliminary injunctions + full compensation for trade secret infringement to "premature disclosure of unreleased characters". It sounded a warning to in-test players and players in the gray industry chain who are keen on "resource unpacking" and "secret filming".
The iconic mobile game operated by Mi Mou Technology maintains its popularity through "version updates + surprise character launches". To prevent leaks, the company recruited core players, who signed NDAs before accessing the closed beta test. As a member of the closed beta, Chen Mou secretly took photos and recorded videos of the in-game visuals, skill effects, and stats of 7 unreleased characters, and sent the materials to a third party in multiple batches. Upon discovering the leak, Mi Mou Technology applied to the court for a pre-litigation preliminary injunction within 48 hours, and subsequently filed a lawsuit for trade secret infringement, claiming compensation for economic losses.
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Secrecy: The dynamic visuals of the characters and skill data, as a result of integrated design, are not known to the public;
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Value: Characters released in a concentrated manner through version updates can continuously boost user activity and in-game revenue;
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Confidentiality Measures: The company adopted multiple safeguards, including closed beta testing, NDAs, and watermarking for traceability.
Based on the above, the court confirmed that the information in question constitutes "business information trade secrets" as referred to in Article 9 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. It ruled that Chen Mou must immediately stop the disclosure and ordered him to pay 500,000 yuan in compensation.
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Premature Drain of Popularity: Once a character’s skills are leaked, the buzz around the official promotion period drops sharply;
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Rapid Replication by Competitors: Leaked materials are copied to similar overseas games, shortening the lifecycle of original content;
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Monetization via Gray Industry Chain: Secretly filmed resources are edited into "spoiler videos" to gain followers on short-video platforms, with ad revenue pocketed privately.
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48-Hour Injunction: The court included "resource unpacking and spoilers" in the scope of emergency injunctions for the first time, blocking secondary dissemination;
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Adequate Compensation: The 500,000-yuan compensation covers both economic losses and reasonable legal expenses, effectively deterring the "leak gray industry" in closed beta tests;
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Permanent Non-Disclosure Obligation: Even after the characters are officially released later, Chen Mou still bears a permanent confidentiality obligation to prevent "rehashing old spoilers".
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Confidentiality Gradation: Limit access to core characters to employees + executive-level players for testing; expand the scope only for secondary content;
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Technical Watermarking: Embed invisible IDs in test packages to trace the source of leaks;
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Joint Liability: Sign agreements with streamers and content creators specifying "liquidated damages for premature exposure" to increase the cost of non-compliance;
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Rapid Rights Protection: Apply for a preliminary injunction immediately upon discovering a leak to seize the 48-hour golden window.
What players look forward to is the amazement at the moment they press the summon button, not the boredom of knowing the plot in advance. The judgment in Mi Mou Technology’s case declares to the industry: Investment in creativity deserves respect; algorithms may allow resource unpacking, but the law will not let anyone "spoil the fun early". Guarding trade secrets means saving the most dazzling characters for the official launch — and this is the best way to prevent the joy of gaming from being stolen.
