Sony Sues Tencent Over Alleged Infringement of Horizon

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has filed a lawsuit against Tencent Holdings seeking to halt the release of Light of Motiram, alleging that the game is a deliberate clone of its critically acclaimed Horizon video game series. The suit accuses Tencent of infringing Sony’s copyrights and trademarks by copying protected audiovisual elements and adopting confusingly similar character marks.

In its complaint, Sony revealed that Tencent executives had previously approached it with a proposal for collaboration—an offer that Sony declined. Despite the rejection, Tencent allegedly proceeded with developing a game that bears a striking resemblance to Horizon. When Sony objected to Light of Motiram, Tencent again sought to license Horizon’s intellectual property, but Sony demanded that the game be withdrawn.

According to Sony, promotional trailers and marketing materials for Light of Motiram reveal substantial similarities in storyline, gameplay themes, cultural and character elements, art style, environments, architecture, color schemes, fonts, and symbols. The music was also alleged to be substantially similar, both thematically and in specific compositions—including vocals, melodies, rhythms, and structure. Notably, Tencent had hired a composer from Horizon Forbidden West to recreate its signature musical style.

The complaint further alleges infringement of Sony’s main character mark, claiming that Tencent’s use of a character resembling Horizon’s protagonist Aloy is likely to mislead consumers into believing an affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement by Sony. Sony argues that Tencent’s actions were intentional, deceptive, and malicious—undertaken in knowing disregard of Sony’s intellectual property rights in order to trade on the goodwill of the Horizon franchise.