Tencent pushes back on Sony's Horizon clone lawsuit claiming the latter seeks a 'genre monopoly'

In response to Sony’s aggressive copyright lawsuit, where the company stated that Tencent’s Light of Motiram bears a stark resemblance to the Horizon series, Tencent launched a counterpunch and dismissed Sony’s claims as “startling” and an overreach aimed at cornering a shared piece of ideas.

In the recent court filings reported by The Game Post, Tencent accused Sony of pursuing “an improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of a popular culture and declare it Sony’s exclusive domain.”

Tencent's response comes in just weeks after Sony Interactive Entertainment launched its legal salvo in July 2025 in a California federal court, where the company pointed out multiple Tencent entities and ten unnamed defendants over the unreleased open-world survival game Light of Mortiram, which is scheduled for a Q4 2027 launch on PC via Steam.

Sony’s complaint accuses Light of Motiram of being a “slavish clone” of the Horizon series, alleging copyright and trademark infringement that could mislead players into believing the title belongs to the same post-apocalyptic universe or robots and tribal warriors.

The suit demands a jury trial and seeks to block Light of Motiram’s release entirely, claiming that promotional materials for Light of Motiram, featuring a red-haired female protagonist battling against machine creatures in an overgrown wilderness, closely portray Aloy, the Horizon series' iconic lead.

Sony further stated that Tencent approached the company in early 2024 about collaborating on a new Horizon project, with the company declined, after which Tencent proceeded to brazenly develop a game in the same light.

The original complaint stated:

“Plaintiff Sony has sued a grab-bag of Tencent companies–and ten unnamed defendants–about the unreleased video game Light of Motiram, alleging that the game copies elements from Sony’s game Horizon Zero Dawn and its spinoffs.”

Tencent is of the view that Sony’s case is speculative and premature, given Light of Motiram’s late 2027 release date and that the sued entities, including Tencent Holdings Limited and Two Palo Alto LLCs, have no direct hand in the development or publishing of Light of Motiram. The holding company’s trademark registration for Light of Motiram is merely administrative and not indicative of direct involvement.

Tencent lawyers further added, “At bottom, Sony’s effort is not aimed at fighting off piracy, plagiarism, or any genuine threat to intellectual property.” To further bolster its stance, Tencent’s lawyers name-dropped a few similar games:

“By suing over an unreleased project that merely employs the same time-honored tropes embraced by scores of other games released both before and after Horizon– like, Enslaved, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, Far Cry: Primal, Far Cry: New Dawn, Outer Wilds, Biomutant, and many more– Sony seeks an impermissible monopoly over genre conventions.”

The lawsuit continues with tensions brewing over innovation versus imitation, with Tencent claiming that Sony is not a protector of creativity but a gatekeeper stifling it.

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