Image: Tencent
Light of Motiram allegedly looks and sounds like Horizon Zero Dawn. Coincidence?
Tencent has announced an upcoming open-world survival game titled Light of Motiram, whose animal-like machines and tribal designs bear striking similarities with Sony’s Horizon game franchise. The game’s teaser images and trailer showcase robotic animals in a post-apocalyptic world teeming with foliage, along with a protagonist who wields a bow and arrow in combat.
While its gameplay mechanics somewhat differ from Horizon's, many have remarked that its visuals have taken some inspiration from the PlayStation franchise.
Tencent’s new survival game looks a lot like Horizon Zero Dawn
Tencent and Polaris Quest have announced an upcoming multiplayer survival game called Light of Motiram, and many people are already remarking about its similarities to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Horizon franchise. The game is described as an open-world game “where nature meets machine,” which is also similar to the premise of the Horizon franchise.
Light of Motiram features animal-like machines called ‘Mechanimals’, which populate its open world for players to train or hunt. Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn and its later spin-offs however, the game also features survival elements; players can build a base of operations with customisable structures, team up with up to 10 players, and even customise their Mechanimals.
Social media users have been calling Tencent out in various coverage of the game. Gematsu's Twitter/X post has user Rino commenting on the reveal, saying “Horizon Zero Originality; Horizon Forbidden Creativity,” while user Not Alex Cruz wrote “This feels illegal lol, I'm sure it's not because you can be inspired by things but like come on lol.”
On IGN's video reveal of the trailer on YouTube, many of the site's users seem to have the same sentiment. User CYCLEGAMER1 wrote “The developers asked Chat GPT to make a horizon clone and this is what we got,” while user Valzack says that the game “looks like a weird Horizon x Monster Hunter crossover made by an A.I. and the worst part is that it doesn't even look half bad to be honest, just shameless, but not bad.”
Many are also saying that this situation is very reminiscent of Palworld’s similarities to the Pokemon games, which didn’t exactly end well in the former game maker’s favour. Pocketpair is currently fighting a lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company regarding those same similarities.
The game has clearly taken some inspirations from the Horizon and Monster Hunter franchise. Its Mechanimals do look eerily similar to Guerrilla Games’ machines from the Horizon franchise. In the trailer alone, an elephant-like Mechanimal looks awfully like a Tremortusk from Horizon Forbidden West, and a ram-like Mechanimal also looks like a Charger from Horizon Zero Dawn.
While one can argue that the machines are based on the same real-world animals both games use for inspiration, but one can't deny that they seem to also share a few of the same mechanical parts. Canisters, wires and specific colours appear in the same spots across both games.
It remains to be seen if Tencent and Polaris Quest will receive a response from Sony and Guerrilla Games. Light of Motiram is set to launch on mobile devices and PC in 2025.
