Sony has petitioned the courts for a preliminary injunction against Tencent, the developer behind “Light of Motiram.” The aim is to prevent the Chinese tech giant from initiating any pre-release promotion for the adventure game. This move comes as Sony formally opposes Tencent’s motion to dismiss the high-profile copyright lawsuit.
This legal action follows Sony’s prior accusation that Tencent created a “knock-off game” of Horizon Zero Dawn. The similarities, Sony argued, were so obvious and pervasive that the public widely condemned the copying. Sony asserts that the release of Light of Motiram threatens the ongoing success of the Horizon franchise, including its planned expansions.
Sony’s initial copyright lawsuit, filed in a California court late last July, labeled Tencent’s “Light of Motiram” as a “slavish clone” of Horizon Zero Dawn. The lawsuit presented numerous similarities, comparing marketing screenshots and game descriptions. Both games, for instance, are set in post-apocalyptic worlds filled with giant robot dinosaurs inhabiting diverse natural environments like forests, deserts, and snowy mountains. Furthermore, both prominently feature red-haired female protagonists sporting strikingly similar outfits, styles, and earpiece-like devices reminiscent of Horizon’s “Focus.”
Following Sony’s initial lawsuit, Tencent subtly modified the “Light of Motiram” Steam page, replacing several screenshots and even the cover image. In its legal response, Tencent argued that its game merely utilizes “well-trodden” tropes common in the industry and suggested that Sony’s own “Horizon” bore resemblances to “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West.”
Tencent countered by calling Sony’s lawsuit an “overreach,” pointing to other franchises like “The Legend of Zelda” and “Far Cry” that share similar elements with Horizon Zero Dawn. Tencent expressed surprise that Sony would claim “Horizon’s” concept was original, asserting it instead relied on “ubiquitous genre ingredients.”
In its latest filing, Sony has outright dismissed Tencent’s response as “nonsense.” The company firmly states that “the damage is done – and it continues,” and accused Tencent of attempting to downplay its involvement through “shell” entities, despite remaining “at the helm” of the project.
Sony emphasized the extent of the alleged copying, citing numerous journalists and “Horizon” fans who have labeled “Light of Motiram” as a “major Horizon rip-off,” an “obvious knock-off,” and a “copycat” featuring a main character strikingly similar to Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn.
Adding to its offensive, Sony has also sought a preliminary injunction to prevent Tencent from featuring a red-haired character in “Light of Motiram,” alongside other visual or narrative elements that closely resemble the “Horizon” franchise. Sony aims to have this injunction in place before the end of the year.
Tencent, conversely, argues that with a release date slated for Q4 2027, Sony cannot realistically prove the “immediate threatened injury” required for a preliminary injunction, given how far off the game’s launch is. However, Sony presented declarations from key figures, including Guerrilla Games’ head of music, Lucas van Tol, and artist Jan-Bart Van Beet. Both expressed their “shock” upon seeing “Light of Motiram,” with Van Beet stating that Tencent’s promotional material displays a visual setting “almost identical to SIE’s Horizon promotional material.”
Van Beet elaborated, “After spending over a decade creating and developing the Horizon franchise, it was disappointing to see our work copied to such a significant extent. Instead of investing years and resources into building the Horizon world, Light of Motiram simply copied it, bypassing the substantial investment and risk we undertook in developing Horizon.”
He further warned of “an even greater risk of harm to the Horizon franchise if Light of Motiram, once released, does not meet the same high quality standards as the Horizon games.” Van Beet highlighted that the confusion generated by “Light of Motiram’s” promotions has already disrupted their current “Horizon” development strategy, fearing that future expansions could be wrongly perceived as copying “Light of Motiram.”
Lucas van Tol also shared his findings, stating, “I have reviewed the music and sounds in Light of Motiram’s promotional materials. I found striking similarities between their promotional trailer and the Horizon music. Light of Motiram’s promotional materials feature the same core elements of the Horizon sound, including its foundational themes, instrumentation, the intimate quality of the lead female voice, melodic structure, and rhythm, all contributing to a profoundly similar overall feel.”
The legal proceedings are ongoing.