The legal bout of shooting between Sony and Tencent in regard to a survival title was brought to a quick and definite end with Light of Motiram by the two companies coming to a confidential settlement after months of escalating tensions to cause immediate removal of the game from any major digital storefront including Steam and the Epic Games Store. Signing off the judicial filing (dismissed with prejudice on December 18), this signals an end to what Sony notoriously called as “slavish clone” of its flagship Horizon franchise.
The duel started in July 2024 when Sony filed a suit claiming copyright and trademark infringement against the Chinese technology giant. As per the suit, a few months back, Tencent approached Sony for the development of a mobile entry for Horizon series. After denial of proposal by Sony, the suit alleged that Tencent opted to proceed to develop the game using assets proprietary to Horizon and core design language for Light of Motiram, and that fans and critics emphasized similarities, from the “Mechanimal” designs to the overall visual aesthetic of the protagonist.
Apart from general common themes, legal counsel for Sony claimed that the infringement even reached the nitty-gritty technicalities and creativeness involved in productions. Some of the infractions contained in the suit include overlaps with the user interface (HUD), color palettes, and music compositions. Although at first Tencent decided to weather the storm by actually pausing public tests early in this month, the abrupt disappearance of the game from the shelves of Steam and Epic signifies that most probably, terms under settlement would bar the game from any launch in this present state.
Presently, no official communication regarding the game’s future from Light of Motiram developer Aurora Game Studio is forthcoming. The official website, however, is still online, but the project’s silence across its social media platforms plus its disappearance from retailers is more suggestive of All-Cancellation or some massive creative pivot. For Tencent, this incident serves to be one high-profile loss in all attempts made toward increasing its portfolio of high-fidelity open-world games. This proves that even giant companies within the gaming industry are not spared by the protective tentacles of Sony’s first-party property.
