Back in July, Sony Interactive initiated a lawsuit against tech-company Tencent. Sony alleged that Tencent willfully and intentionally infringed upon Sony’s copyright with their upcoming game Light of Motiram, claiming that the title was merely a “slavish clone” of Sony’s Horizon series. Tencent has called for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that Sony’s legal action is an attempt to establish ownership over “well-trodden” video game tropes rather than a motion to protect their intellectual property. 

Within their lawsuit, Sony cited several similarities between their Horizon series and Tencent’s Light of Motiram. For example, Light of Motiram’s protagonist has a strong resemblance to Horizon’s protagonist Aloy, with both characters having red hair and donning similar clothing. The games also share similar settings and plotlines, as both titles focus on humans living alongside massive mechanical creatures while navigating through a tribalistic society. 

Sony further argued that the similarities between these two games cannot be explained away as a coincidence. Allegedly, Tencent asked Sony to use the Horizons IP, Sony rejected their proposal, and Tencent continued the game’s development anyways. Sony also argues that Tencent hired one of the music composers from Horizon Forbidden West to work on Light of Motiram to further plagiarize the aesthetics of the Horizon series. The lawsuit formally accuses Tencent of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition.

A report by The Game Post reveals Tencent’s official response to Sony’s allegations. Tencent is motioning for the lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that Sony is attempting to gain legal authority over common video game imagery. Said imagery includes the elements Sony references in their lawsuit, such as red-haired protagonists, post-apocalyptic storylines, and robotic creatures. Tencent argues that similar ideas are present in other video games such as The Legend of Zelda, Outer Wilds, and countless others. 

Tencent further alleges that Sony has ulterior motives with their lawsuit, as one quote from the complaint reads, “Sony’s effort is not aimed at fighting…any genuine threat to intellectual property. It is an improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of popular culture and declare it Sony’s exclusive domain.” Furthermore, Tencent argues that the Horizon series also utilizes popular tropes and that the games are far less original than Sony’s lawsuit claims. The complaint references a documentary featuring Horizon Zero Dawn’s art director Jan-Bart Van Beek, in which he admits that the Horizon series was initially shelved due to its similarity to the game Enslaved. Tencent claims that Sony continued with the project despite knowing that their concept was unoriginal. 

It is currently unknown whether Tencent’s motion to dismiss will be approved or denied, with the overall  state of Sony’s lawsuit remaining unclear. Regardless of the motion’s outcome, it’s apparent that Tencent will continue to fight against Sony’s claims of copyright infringement.