Sony Is Suing Tencent Over New Game, Claiming Similarities To Horizon: Zero Dawn

Sony has filed a lawsuit against Tencent over its upcoming game Light of Motiram, which the company claims is a clone of Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Sony is looking to enter a long legal battle with Tencent over its new game Light of Motiram, which the Japanese company has called a ‘slavish clone’ of its 2017 game Horizon: Zero Dawn.

Many an eyebrow was raised in November last year when Tencent debuted the trailer for its upcoming game Light of Motiram, an open-world action-adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic setting. In this world, robots have taken on the form of wildlife, and humanity has reverted to scattered tribes, trying to survive without the use of technology. Sounds like another franchise from another major gaming company, right?

When the trailer dropped, general audiences and journalists immediately caught wind of the game’s similarities to the Horizon franchise. Now, it appears Sony has spent the last few months building its legal battle against the massive Chinese company.

As reported by Reuters on July 28, Sony filed a lawsuit last week against Tencent regarding its upcoming video game. In the lawsuit, which was filed in California federal court on July 25, Sony lawyers alleged it copies elements directly from the series. The company also claims Light of Motiram could cause confusion among gamers looking to buy a Horizon game.

Reuters reports that in Sony’s lawsuit, the company claims that it declined an offer from Tencent to collaborate on a new entry in the Horizon franchise. Then, later that same year, Tencent announced Light of Motiram, which Sony alleges is copying gameplay, story, and artistic elements featured in the Horizon series.

Sony is asking the court in California for $150,000 in statutory damages for each separate work in the Horizon series infringed and an order blocking Tencent from violating its IP rights.