- Tencent is being sued by Sony for its Horizon Zero Dawn-like survival game Light of Motiram
- Sony alleges that the game is a “slavish clone” of the Horizon IP
- It’s also claimed that Tencent reached out to Sony to collaborate on a new Horizon game, which Sony declined
Sony is suing Tencent over Light of Motiram, the publisher’s open-world survival game that looks an awful lot like Horizon Zero Dawn.
Initially reported by Reuters, Sony has filed a lawsuit against Tencent for copyright and trademark infringement, claiming the Chinese tech company has created a knock-off game of its Horizon intellectual property.
Sony alleges that the company’s upcoming game Light of Motiram, developed by Polaris Quest, is a “slavish clone” of Guerrilla Games’ 2017 title and copies several Horizon elements, like gameplay, art style, post-apocalyptic themes, the game’s playable protagonist Aloy, and other details.
The suit also cites the public’s comparisons, including headlines from Kotaku, GameRant, and comments made on IMDB.
“Tencent’s copying of Horizon is so blatant that the public has described it as ‘crazy,’ ‘insane,’ and ‘shameless,'” the lawsuit reads.
“Tencent also used its rip-off of the iconic Horizon main character ‘Aloy’ as the centerpiece of its pre-release marketing and promotional strategy, deliberately causing numerous game lovers to confuse Light of Motiram as the next game in the Horizon series when encountering Tencent’s promotional game play videos and social media accounts.”
Sony also alleges that the game’s promotional art and screenshots have “misappropriated protectable elements of SIE’s copyrights in the Horizon Franchise to a significant degree”, including music and vocals, which are similar thematically.
The PlayStation company says this was deliberate, as Tencent hired a composer from the Horizon Forbidden West soundtrack “to replicate the unique sound for Light of Motiram.”
The suit also alleges that Tencent asked Sony to collaborate on a new Horizon game, which Sony declined. Sony claims that the company began development on Light of Motiram afterward, despite the rejected offer.
“Upon information and belief, sometime in 2023 (and unbeknownst to Sony) Tencent started developing a video game called Light of Motiram which – just like Horizon – features a young, red-headed female protagonist and tribal groups fighting for survival among large robotic animals in a post-apocalyptic world,” the suit reads.
“In March 2024, at a gaming conference in San Francisco, California, Tencent executives approached Sony with a pitch: to develop its own Horizon game in collaboration with SIE. Sony rejected the idea and considered the matter closed.
“Apparently, Tencent was undeterred by SIE’s refusal to license its Horizon intellectual property. Tencent continued secretly developing Light of Motiram, eventually announcing a forthcoming game. Tencent’s promotional material bore a strong similarity to SIE’s own Horizon promotional material.”
Sony is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an order blocking Tencent from violating its IP rights.
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