Sony filed a lawsuit against Tencent on July 25, 2025, over what they believe is a “shameless” rip-off of the Horizon franchise. Sony is justifiably protective of the Horizon franchise as it has remained a fairly successful and profitable franchise for them. Sony in their statement alleged that Tencent is “deliberately causing numerous game lovers to confuse Light of Motiram as the next game in the Horizon series” and says that the main character in Light of Motiram is a blatant “rip-off” of the popular main protagonist in Horizon, Aloy.
Sony also states that Tencent’s development of this game has “has caused and is causing irreparable injury to SIE.” Sony is seeking damages of up to $150,000 for “each separate work in the Horizon franchise infringed,” as well as demanding Tencent to hand SIE’s lawyers all products and marketing materials bearing what SIE believes to be “prohibited marks” so the Sony team can subsequently destroy them.
Another wrinkle to add to this strange story is that Sony alleges that Tencent approached them to license a game from the Horizon IP in which they declined. If Sony is truthful in their statements, the fact that Tencent had the idea to make a game in the Horizon franchise potentially during development of Light of Motiram shows that after being rejected by Sony, they may have put in slight differences in the game to avoid IP infringement such as a focus on melee combat over ranged.
Having watched the gameplay trailer of Light of Motiram, I think that Sony has a strong base to file and win their lawsuit against Tencent. The art style is near identical and includes what looks like a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity has been reset and there are now prehistoric-like tribes fighting against aggressive animal-like machines.
The game looks like it features the ability to knock off parts of the machines and the only real significant difference I see is the almost Monster Hunter-like combat. Tencent remains a massive conglomerate where even if they lose this lawsuit and have to cancel the release of Light of Motiram, they will likely survive, however, their reputation in the games industry will continue to be buried in the already deep hole they’ve continued to dig for themselves many times over.
