Sony is taking legal action against Tencent, alleging that the company copied elements from the Horizon series in the game Light of Motiram.

      Credit: Light of Motiram

      This week, a significant legal battle emerged in the gaming sector as Sony initiated a lawsuit in a federal court in California, claiming that Tencent’s new game Light of Motiram has borrowed aspects from its prominent Horizon franchise. Sony is requesting an injunction and significant damages according to the court documents.

      Details: Sony is asking the court to direct Tencent to pay unspecified damages and to impose an injunction to halt any further infringement of its intellectual property. The case is being processed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, under case number 3:25-cv-06275.

      The complaint alleges that Light of Motiram is a “slavish clone” of the Horizon series, mirroring key elements like the design of mechanical creatures, protagonist characteristics, visual style, and promotional materials. Both games are set in post-apocalyptic environments inhabited by mechanical creatures, where human civilization has regressed into tribal societies; the complaint highlights that both protagonists are red-haired women equipped with similar ear-mounted scanning devices.

      The filing further accuses Tencent of imitating the movement patterns and environmental interactions of the mechanical creatures. Additionally, it is claimed that the title font, color scheme, and cinematic style used in Light of Motiram’s promotional videos are intentionally designed to mimic the visual identity of Horizon.

      The US District Court in California has accepted the case, and Tencent has not yet released a public statement regarding it.

      Screenshots from the filing:

      Context: This lawsuit is not Tencent’s first involvement in a copyright dispute. Previously, the creator of NetEase’s Eggy Party claimed that Tencent’s Dream Star had copied its map, and South Korea’s NEXON sued Tencent’s QQ Tang for allegedly plagiarizing Crazy Arcade.

      In 2024, the accusation related to Eggy Party sparked discussions online, but no formal legal resolution has been publicly disclosed, and it is believed the matter was resolved privately or remains unavailable.

      Regarding the lawsuit filed by NEXON in 2006, the court ultimately deemed the claim invalid, leading to Tencent's victory in that case.

      Last month, some reports suggested that Tencent was contemplating a $15 billion acquisition of NEXON, but Tencent later refuted these reports, asserting that there were no plans or negotiations for an acquisition.

      Jessie Wu is a tech journalist based in Shanghai. She reports on consumer electronics, semiconductors, and the gaming industry for TechNode. You can reach her via email: [email protected]. More by Jessie Wu