The publisher of Genshin Impact, Cognosphere, is subpoenaing Discord to get information about Ubatcha, the game’s most prolific leaker. A recent subpoena and DMCA takedown notice target Ubatcha and the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor Discord server they operate on. According to lawyers for Cognosphere, content posted in WFP by Ubatcha violates Cognosphere’s copyright rights.
It includes screenshots of Ubatcha’s Discord posts from July 2022, as well as images, artwork, and screen captures from Genshin Impact. Let’s just say Cognosphere probably doesn’t want Ubatcha’s personal info just to say hi. In the subpoena, it says “such information will only be used to protect Cognosphere’s rights.” Reading between the lines, you can see the legal action that could follow. Cognosphere may not serve Ubatcha a lawsuit tomorrow, but it’s clear they’re after him. Genshin Impact’s creators have gone after leakers before. Since the big update 1.5 blowout, the so-called ‘Leaker Hunt Decree’, a riff on Genshin Impact’s Inazuma story arc, hasn’t stopped.
On the heels of a far-reaching, near-unprecedented leak allegedly plucked straight from Hoyoverse servers, moderators on the Genshin Impact Leaks subreddit received DMCA notices. Ubatcha is essentially The Leaker for the game’s Western community, and WFP is the go-to for pre-release details, so this is pretty big. Over 330,000 people follow the game’s main leak subreddit.
Ubatcha has over 465,000 followers on Twitter alone, and Wangsheng Funeral Parlor has over 270,000 members. Many data miners and beta testers also leak Genshin Impact data, fueling sites like Genshin Honey and Project Ambr, but it’s Ubatcha who often shares, collates, and/or confirms major leaks first. There’s no way to overstate how trusted and well-known he is among players looking to learn about future Genshin Impact updates. Besides deleting a few posts here and there and going dark on some social media occasionally, Ubatcha has never tried to hide his leaks. WFP has several channels and admin roles labeled “leaks”.
