Since July of this year, Sony and Tencent have been embroiled in a copyright-related legal battle. Sony initiated the lawsuit and alleged that Tencent’s upcoming adventure game, Light of Motiram, infringes upon the copyright of Sony’s Horizon franchise. Tencent motioned to dismiss the case in September, but Sony has responded to that dismissal request with an assertion that Light of Motiram continues to infringe upon their intellectual property rights.

In July, Sony sued Tencent and alleged that Light of Motiram was a “slavish clone” of the Horizon franchise. Sony argued that many elements included in Light of Motiram, such as a red-haired female protagonist, post-apocalyptic tribal setting, and large robotic animals, were reminiscent of key elements in the Horizon franchise. Sony alleged that the copyright infringement was done willfully, with Tencent allegedly approaching Sony for permission to create a Horizon game and continuing development after the proposition was declined.

A few months later, in September, Tencent motioned to dismiss Sony’s lawsuit against them. In their motion, Tencent alleges that Sony is using the lawsuit as a method of “fencing off well-trodden gaming topes.” The company further argues that many features that Sony claims are unique to the Horizon series are present in other games such as The Legend of Zelda, Outer Wilds, and more. Tencent also alleges that Sony is aware that the Horizon series is not as unique as Sony claims, citing a documentary featuring the art director for Horizon Zero Dawn and his statement that Horizon was initially shelved due to its similarity to the game Enslaved.

Sony has officially responded to Tencent’s motion to dismiss the case, which was first covered by The Game Post alongside the legal documents themselves being published through Games Fray. Sony’s preliminary injunction (PI) has been filed with the intention of blocking Tencent from utilizing a red-haired protagonist and other allegedly Horizon-esque elements in Light of Motiram. Sony also alleges that Tencent is playing a “shell game” or using deceptive tactics to avoid legal consequences. Such tactics, Sony alleges, include Tencent refusing to directly claim ownership over the development of Light of Motiram and “[obfuscating] its plans for releasing Light of Motiram and [hiding] behind its opaque corporate structure.”

The PI also contains Sony’s responses to Tencent’s defenses in their motion to dismiss. For example, Tencent has previously claimed that Light of Motiram’s current unpublished status and 2027 release date undermines Sony’s claim that the game resulted in provable copyright-related harm. However, Sony argues that the game’s Horizon-esque promotional materials still infringed upon their intellectual property, even if they have since altered or taken down certain promotional images. 

Sony also argues that Aloy, the red-haired protagonist from the Horizon series, serves as a larger brand representation of Sony and Playstation as a whole. As such, Sony claims that individuals may confuse Light of Motiram’s protagonist with Aloy, and thus mistakenly conflate Light of Motiram with Sony and Playstation. Sony utilized accounts of game journalists and fans calling the game a Horizon rip-off or mistakenly assuming that Light of Motiram was connected to the Horizon series to support these allegations. Sony further argues that such confusion causes harm, as Sony would allegedly lose control over their ability to expand their intellectual property and harm their reputation with fans. 

Due to its recency, Tencent has yet to reply to Sony’s PI. Tencent’s response and the overall future of the case remain unclear.