The 'Tencent Horizon Clone' Controversy Explained

On July 28, PlayStation’s Sony Interactive Entertainment sued the China-based gaming publisher Tencent Games in U.S. California federal court for allegedly ripping off its Horizon franchise with the upcoming game Light of Motiram. First officially beginning in 2017 with the then PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayStation and Guerrilla Games’ Horizon franchise has quickly become a breakout hit in its eight years of existence, grossing millions of dollars worldwide and launching ventures into other mediums such as comics and film. Seemingly desiring to profit from Horizon’s success and global appeal, Tencent and developer Polaris Quest began producing a game known as Light of Motiram that has quickly become the source of controversy in the gaming industry for its near one-to-one copying of Horizon’s features.

New Sales Numbers for Horizon Franchise Revealed

New sales numbers for the Horizon franchise are revealed in the wake of Sony's lawsuit against Tencent Games over a strikingly similar title.

Posts

By J Brodie Shirey

The Development of Tencent’s Light of Motiram

Following the critical and financial success of the third-person, open-world RPG Horizon Zero Dawn, Sony Interactive Entertainment and Guerrilla Games quickly began working on sequel and spinoff titles for the emerging Horizon franchise. These developments would eventually culminate into 2022’s Horizon Forbidden West, 2023’s Horizon Call of the Mountain, and 2024’s Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures.

Currently, Guerrilla is working on a story-focused multiplayer spinoff of Horizon, and there's a Horizon 3 project and a film adaption of Horizon Zero Dawn expected to release following the spinoff’s debut. The success and rather rapid expansion of Horizon reportedly caught the eye of Tencent Games in 2024, the publisher having previously worked on games such as Call of Duty Online, Call of Duty: Mobile, and PUBG Mobile.

According to Sony’s lawsuit, Tencent and Polaris Quest began developing the game that would come to be known as Light of Motiram in 2023. Tencent reportedly approached Sony executives at the 2024 Game Developers Conference in California and requested to form a licensing deal between the two companies so that Tencent could turn the Light of Motiram project into a Horizon spinoff. Sony rejected this initial request, but Tencent and Polaris Quest continued work on Light of Motiram, officially unveiling the game in late 2024 via PlayStation’s Chinese social network accounts on Weibo and Bilibili. Upon seeing Motiram’s announcement and gameplay, Sony accused Tencent of violating its copyright on Horizon due to similarities between the two games.

The Lead Up to Sony’s Tencent Lawsuit

Tencent reportedly attempted to gain a licensing deal for Horizon with Sony after this accusation, but Sony rejected the prospect once more. Despite already coming into conflict with Sony over Light of Motiram’s similarities to Horizon, Tencent and Polaris Quest continued developing Motiram, going on to release more game details and gameplay footage along with hosting playtests of Motiram in 2025.

This ultimately resulted in Sony officially suing the Chinese companies for copyright and trademark infringement. It accused Tencent of ripping off the Horizon IP and called Light of Motiram a “slavish clone” of Horizon. Sony is seeking monetary damages of up to $150,000 for each separate work in Horizon that’s been infringed and an order blocking Tencent from violating its intellectual property rights.

Light of Motiram Compared to Horizon

To get into its specifics, Light of Motiram is an upcoming third-person, open-world game set in a post-apocalyptic world where tribal humans must struggle to survive among “colossal machines” called Mechanimals. If that sounds exactly like the premise of Horizon, most of the gaming community thought so too, with Light of Motiram instantly being classified as a shameless Horizon clone following its announcement. For instance, Light of Motiram’s reveal trailer depicts a close-up of a massive machine's foot before showcasing ruins and a tribal woman witnessing herds of animalistic machines and cave paintings. These shots are practically one-to-one copies of scenes from Horizon Zero Dawn’s E3 2015 trailer, launch trailer, and opening cutscene. Light of Motiram’s reveal trailer is even set in the 31st century and features tall red grass, just like Horizon.

Light of Motiram even has a game description that’s eerily similar to Horizon Zero Dawn’s. Light of Motiram’s Steam listing states, “In a world overrun by colossal machines, explore the vast open world, build your base of operations, advance technology, train Mechanimals, and take on formidable bosses.” Meanwhile, the Horizon Zero Dawn remaster Steam listing states, “In a far future where colossal machines roam the Earth, pockets of humanity survive in unique tribes among the lush, overgrown ruins of our long-lost civilization.” Even Light of Motiram’s initial promotional image appears to be copying a Horizon Zero Dawn E3 art piece made by concept artist Lloyd Allan, both of which depict a tribal woman overlooking a landscape filled with ruins, vegetation, and towering machines.

Light of Motiram’s Gameplay

In Light of Motiram, players battle gigantic, animalistic machines in tropical rainforests, desert landscapes, and snow-capped mountains. While players can destroy the machines with melee weapons and tribal ranged weapons, players can also tame and ride them to aid in battle. These are the exact same settings and core gameplay mechanics as Horizon Zero Dawn. However, Light of Motiram does feature some gameplay elements not seen in the mainline Horizon games so far, such as a crafting system that allows players to build fortresses, shelters, and even ladders to reach high areas. Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn or Forbidden West, Light of Motiram can be played in online co-op or in select PVP modes, complete with cross-platform progression.

Sony, Horizon, and Light of Motiram's Potential Future

Based on details already revealed by Sony in its lawsuit against Tencent, the Chinese company clearly desired to make a Horizon game of its own, and when it was unable to get a licensing deal, they simply decided to make a copy of Horizon with Light of Motiram. The suit is currently ongoing, but Sony will likely use comparisons between Motiram and Horizon’s machines, characters, world design, and even music to make the case. For example, Motiram’s deer-like Agni robot is clearly meant to be a stand-in for Horizon’s Tallneck. Similarly, Motiram’s currently unidentified elephant robot closely resembles Horizon Forbidden West’s Tremortusk. All of Motiram’s Mechanimals additionally feature elemental strengths and weaknesses, just like Horizon’s varied Damage Types.

It’s unknown how long it will take for Sony’s lawsuit against Tencent to be resolved, but it could significantly impact both the Horizon franchise and Light of Motiram’s release. Aside from Sony being concerned with Tencent ripping off Horizon, Sony is particularly worried that Motiram would confuse customers and artificially boost sales due to people thinking Motiram is a new multiplayer Horizon game. Motiram currently has no definite release window, but if the lawsuit takes a while to be resolved, Motiram could launch and potentially conflict with Horizon sales. However, if Sony wins the lawsuit, Light of Motiram could potentially be canceled and delisted from online stores.