Sony Sues Tencent Over Horizon Knockoff: Petty, or Justified Robo-Tribal Warfare?
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Sony is suing Tencent over their upcoming game, *Light of Motiram*, alleging it's a blatant *Horizon* ripoff, which has caused a right kerfuffle in the gaming world. Is it a legitimate claim of copyright infringement, or just a big company throwing its weight around?
Right, so Sony's lawyers have been sharpening their pencils, and this time they're coming after Tencent. Apparently, Tencent's upcoming game, *Light of Motiram*, looks a *bit* too much like *Horizon Zero Dawn* and *Forbidden West* for Sony's liking. I've been digging into this all morning, and fair dinkum, it's a proper rollercoaster.
According to a lawsuit filed by Sony (originally spotted by the eagle-eyed folks at Rock Paper Shotgun), *Light of Motiram*, currently cooking at Tencent subsidiary Polaris Quest, is a “slavish clone” of Guerrilla Games’ beloved series. The claim? Copyright infringement, plain and simple. Think Nintendo vs. *Palworld*, but with a bit more robo-dino action.
Here's where it gets juicy. Sony alleges that Tencent actually *approached them* back in 2024, apparently with *Light of Motiram* already in development. The pitch? To create an official *Horizon* game under license. When Sony said no, Tencent allegedly just... carried on anyway. Now, that's a bold move, cotton, let's see if it pays off.
Look, even if you haven’t been living under a rock (or, you know, exploring a post-apocalyptic wasteland), the similarities are… striking. We’re talking a combat-rolling female protagonist, a lush, leafy far future, metallic beast designs, a post-collapse narrative. Even the trailers have that same wailing soundtrack vibe. You can almost hear Ashly Burch whispering puzzle solutions in your ear! But what does it all *mean*?
Interestingly, *Light of Motiram* has gotten some acceptance, especially compared to blatant copycats like those *Resident Evil* knockoffs. Nvidia even showed off its DLSS 4 features using the game. Makes you wonder why Sony took so long to get the courts involved, doesn't it? Maybe they were hoping it would just fade away, like a bad dream. I reckon they're now seeing it as a persistent "Horizon with survival crafting" – sound familiar?
Now, I'm not entirely convinced this legal throwdown is justified. Is it a *bit* petty for a company the size of Sony? Their claim that one originality-challenged RPG (that doesn’t even *have* a release date yet) will cause "irreparable harm" when *Horizon* has sold 38 million copies is, well, a bit of a stretch. Besides, let's be real, everyone borrows ideas in gaming. If every obvious homage ended up in court, we wouldn't have *StarCraft* (with its *Warhammer 40K* vibes) or *Dota 2* (aka *I Can't Believe It's Not Warcraft*). I'd never have wasted 2,800 hours of my life yelling at little wizard men for failing to hit magic rocks on command.
...You know what? Maybe Sony *should* sue them. Sue 'em all! At the very least, it'll give us something to watch while we wait for *Horizon 3* (or, you know, *Light of Motiram*). The Rock Paper Shotgun team seem to be leaning in the same direction - maybe we'll all be lawyers by the end of the year!
Tags: Sony, Tencent, Horizon Zero Dawn, Lawsuit, Copyright Infringement
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun