Sony sues Tencent over "slavish clone" of Horizon games

PlayStation says Tencent repeatedly tried to license Horizon series from Sony

Two of gaming’s biggest companies are now in a very public dispute. Sony, maker of PlayStation and the multi-million selling Horizon series (Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West) has filed suit against Chinese gaming giant—and Riot and Supercell owner—Tencent over the latter’s upcoming game Light of Motiram. Sony says Motiram, unveiled last November, is says is a “slavish clone” of Horizon.

The suit, Sony Interactive Entertainment vs. Tencent, et al, was filed Friday in federal court in California, alleging that Tencent has violated Sony’s Horizon copyrights and trademarks with the development and promotion of Light of Motiram.

The suit was first reported by Reuters.

Sony is asking the court to rule that Tencent violated Horizon’s copyrights and trademarks and to enjoin them from producing work that does so. Translation: They want the court to block the game’s release in its current form.

Compare the games’ trailers for yourself…

The Horizon games and Light of Motiram are set in post-apocalyptic futures, both feature red-haired female protagonists battling mechanical beasts, both mash up motifs from indigenous tribes with futuristic tech.

Similarities and Sony’s claim of a twice-rejected business deal

In the suit, Sony’s lawyers have a field day with side-by-side comparisons of the released Horizon games and pre-release promotional glimpses of Motiram…

And they reproduce many online takes about the two games, such as this from Kotaku…

The most eyebrow-raising part of the suit is Sony’s claim that Tencent pitched PlayStation in early 2024, proposing that its Aurora Studios make a Horizon game. Sony says it declined.

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Sony says it was unaware at the time of the Tencent/Aurora outreach of the then-unannounced Light of Motiram. Sony believes Motiram had already been in development at the time of the pitch, possibly a full year prior.

The PlayStation-maker speculates in the suit that Motiram studio Polaris Quest “on information and belief, is either another name for Aurora Studios or another wholly-owned Tencent studio working with Aurora Studios.”

From the suit: Sony says this was Tencent’s pitch for its Aurora Studios to make a Horizon game

Sony says it approached Tencent earlier this year to work out the Horizon/Motiram issues. The company says Tencent again asked to license Horizon, Sony again refused, Motiram remained underway and so now Sony is suing:

Earlier this year, Sony had discussions with Tencent trying to informally resolve its concern that Light of Motiram violated its intellectual property rights. Tencent again sought to license the Horizon intellectual property. Sony (again) communicated clearly and unequivocally that it would not license the Horizon assets to Tencent, objected to Light of Motiram, and insisted that it be withdrawn. Tencent has since signaled that it rejected Sony’s demands and would forge ahead, releasing a new promotional trailer for Light of Motiram and announcing that, “[i]n the near future, Light of Motiram will also commence global testing.”

Tencent has continued to release additional promotional materials suggesting the game will soon be made available for play testing.

Sony is thus forced to file this action and to seek judicial relief to protect its valuable and hard-earned intellectual property rights in the Horizon Franchise.

Tencent did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Read the full lawsuit at this link.

Update - 4:15pm ET: Adding a little more here from what Sony says was Tencent’s 2024 pitch document about making a Horizon game through its Aurora studios. Tencent’s pitch included the idea that a Chinese-flavored Horizon would have extra appeal…

From the lawsuit, pages from what Sony says was Tencent’s pitch for a licensed Horizon game