Light of Motiram’s first trailer immediately brought back memories of Horizon Zero Dawn for many gamers. The striking similarities are now causing controversy.
A futuristic world where civilization has been destroyed and giant mechanical beasts populate the earth? This description probably makes almost everyone think of Horizon Zero Dawn or its sequel, Forbidden West. But it also applies to Light of Motiram, an MMO being developed by Chinese publisher Tencent.
Sony takes legal action
Light of Motiram caused laughter and raised eyebrows among gamers with its first trailer due to its similarity to Horizon Zero Dawn. But the announcement apparently did not go unnoticed by Horizon publisher Sony. It has now been announced that Sony is going to court to prevent the release of Light of Motiram.
Sony apparently believes that its copyrights have been infringed and accuses Tencent of brazenly copying the Horizon games. Light of Motiram is a slave clone
, imitating several characteristic elements and potentially confusing buyers.
For this reason, Sony is demanding that the development of Light of Motiram be discontinued and that the game not be released. In addition, Tencent is to pay several hundred thousand dollars in damages. Sony also claims to have been contacted by Tencent in 2024. The Chinese publisher offered to develop a spin-off of the Horizon games for mobile devices. However, Sony rejected this proposal.
Tencent was apparently planning to include survival elements, crafting, tameable animals, and multiplayer elements in the spin-off. Basically, exactly what Light of Motiram is now advertising. Whether Light of Motiram is really a brazen copy or was merely inspired by Horizon Zero Dawn in a legitimate way is now up to a California court to decide. The lawsuit pits the two biggest players in the gaming industry against each other. It’s almost like Godzilla fighting Ghidorah, except that instead, a bunch of lawyers are sitting across from each other in a courtroom.
