A red-haired warrior, towering machines, and a world in ruins... only this time, it isn’t Horizon, and Sony has something to say about it.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has filed a lawsuit against Chinese tech and gaming giant Tencent, accusing it of copyright and trademark infringement over the upcoming video game Light of Motiram.
The legal complaint was submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday, 25 July 2025, and claims that Tencent’s title is a “slavish clone” of Sony’s popular Horizon series.
According to a report by Reuters, Sony is seeking damages and an injunction to halt the distribution of Light of Motiram, citing numerous similarities to its Horizon games. These include gameplay, art style, characters, and story themes.
The case has been filed under Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC v. Tencent Holdings Ltd, case number 3:25-cv-06275. Sony is represented by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe attorneys Annette Hurst, Diana Rutowski, and Laura Wytsma. Legal representation for Tencent has not yet been disclosed.
Sony is asking for up to $150,000 in damages per infringed work, as well as the destruction of all infringing materials. The full details on the case can be read here.
Tencent proposed collaborating with Sony on a new Horizon game, but the offer was turned down.
The lawsuit details that “in March 2024, at a gaming conference in San Francisco, California, Tencent executives approached Sony with a pitch: to develop its own Horizon game in collaboration with SIE.” Sony declined the proposal and, as stated in the complaint, “considered the matter closed.”
However, the filing alleges that Tencent continued to develop Light of Motiram in secret despite the refusal. "Apparently, Tencent was undeterred by SIE's refusal to license its Horizon intellectual property,” the suit reads. It adds that the company eventually revealed its own title, with promotional materials that bore a “strong similarity to SIE's own Horizon promotional material.”
The complaint also accuses Tencent of false designation of origin, suggesting that the similarities could mislead consumers into believing Light of Motiram is officially affiliated with or endorsed by Sony.
Sony says Light of Motiram similarities are more than coincidence
Sony’s lawsuit outlines what it describes as striking resemblances between Horizon and Light of Motiram. According to the complaint, both games feature red-haired female protagonists dressed in tribal attire, who explore natural landscapes filled with hostile robotic creatures. These enemies, as well as the environmental biomes, ranging from deserts to snowy peaks, mirror those found in Horizon.
The complaint also points out that the lead character in Light of Motiram wears a device that closely resembles Aloy’s “Focus,” the small earpiece she uses to highlight enemies, scan machines, and uncover hidden clues in the world around her.
Plenty of Redditors and media outlets also pointed out the similarities:
Redditor CreamPuffDelight shared how some of the monsters “look like they were straight up copy pasted from Horizon West,” with the original poster, Iggy_Slayer adding that “when the mammoth showed up it was extreme deja vu it looks VERY close to the one in Forbidden West.”
Developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, the Horizon series is a critically-acclaimed franchise set in a richly imagined post-apocalyptic future. The world is overrun by machine-like creatures resembling animals and dinosaurs, while humanity has regressed into tribal societies.
The first game, Horizon Zero Dawn, was released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, later arriving on PC in 2020. It introduced players to Aloy, a skilled hunter and archer with a mysterious past, who sets out to uncover the truth behind the mechanical beasts and the downfall of the old world. Its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, launched in 2022 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Meanwhile, Light of Motiram is a free-to-play open-world survival game from Tencent’s Polaris Quest, revealed in November 2024. Set in 2068, players fight to survive in a post-human world overrun by robotic beasts called Mechanimals. As one of the last tribal survivors, players must gather resources, build shelters, craft gear, and either tame or battle these machines.
While Light of Motiram is currently listed on Steam, it has not been given a public release date. The game will support crossplay on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android.
