Sony Escalates Legal Battle: Files Preliminary Injunction Against Tencent’s Alleged ‘Horizon’ Copycat, ‘Light of Motiram’

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has intensified its legal campaign against Chinese tech giant Tencent, filing a motion for a preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. This aggressive move aims to immediately halt pre-release promotion and bar the use of key elements in Tencent’s upcoming open-world survival game, Light of Motiram, which SIE maintains is a “slavish clone” of its highly successful Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West franchises. This development marks a significant escalation in the high-stakes intellectual property dispute that has captured the attention of the global video game industry.

The core of the dispute, initially filed as a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit in July 2025, centers on allegations that Light of Motiram—developed by Tencent subsidiary Polaris Quest / Aurora Studios—unlawfully copies numerous protected elements from the Horizon universe. Key points of contention include the design of the protagonist, the post-apocalyptic setting featuring robot animals, specific visual assets, and even musical scores.

The Demand for Immediate Action: Barring Aloy’s Alleged Lookalike

SIE’s preliminary injunction motion, filed this week, directly requests that the court prevent Tencent from utilizing specific materials, even before the full trial concludes. Most notably, the injunction seeks to bar the use of a “fierce tribal warrior huntress characterized by fiery red hair” that Sony argues is an unambiguous and confusingly similar copy of its iconic protagonist, Aloy. The legal filing also targets other visual assets, specific storyline elements, and a melody from the Light of Motiram trailer alleged to be a near-identical composition to two tracks from the Horizon Zero Dawn Official Soundtrack.

SIE’s argument hinges on the claim that Tencent’s continued promotion of the alleged knock-off is already causing irreparable harm and consumer confusion, thereby jeopardizing the massive investment and goodwill associated with the multi-billion dollar Horizon franchise. Declarations from high-ranking Sony and Guerrilla Games executives, including the Studio Director of Guerrilla Games, Jan-Bart van Beek, have been submitted, arguing that the alleged copying is “blatant” and “pervasive.”

Quote from SIE Legal Filing:

“The copying was so egregious that numerous journalists and Horizon fans called Light of Motiram ‘a major Horizon rip off,’ ‘an obvious knock off,’ a ‘copycat’ with a main character that ‘resembles Aloy to a tee,’ and ‘extremely similar to Horizon Zero Dawn.’ Light of Motiram – a knock-off game so blatant that the public loudly decried the obvious and pervasive copying of Horizon’s protected elements – jeopardizes Horizon’s continued success, including current expansion plans for the franchise.”

Tencent’s ‘Nonsense’ Defense and the ‘Shell Game’ Allegation

In response to the original lawsuit, Tencent had previously filed a motion to dismiss, asserting that Light of Motiram merely uses “well-trodden” and “ubiquitous genre ingredients” common across many open-world survival games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Far Cry: Primal. Tencent’s legal team also argued that the lawsuit was “unripe” because the company had quietly delayed the release of Light of Motiram from late 2025 to late 2027 and removed numerous controversial screenshots and promotional material from its Steam page following the initial legal action.

Sony has vehemently rejected this defense in its opposition filing, labeling Tencent’s response as “nonsense” and accusing the conglomerate of engaging in a “shell game” to shield itself from liability. SIE claims Tencent is deliberately obscuring the true responsible entities within its vast corporate structure while still leveraging the “Tencent” brand name to promote the infringing title. Furthermore, Sony states that the damage to its brand integrity “is done, and it continues” despite the release date delay.

The Context: A Rejected Collaboration and Evolving IP Law

Adding a layer of intrigue to the case, Sony’s initial lawsuit alleged that Tencent had approached SIE in March 2024 seeking a license to develop a Horizon-themed mobile game, a proposal that Sony formally rejected the following month. The subsequent announcement and promotion of Light of Motiram—allegedly featuring many of the same conceptual elements pitched—forms a critical part of SIE’s legal narrative, suggesting a deliberate path to exploit the Horizon IP without consent.

This case is being closely watched by legal experts and investors across the global gaming market. A preliminary injunction, if granted by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, would be a major victory for Sony and a powerful affirmation of intellectual property rights over distinctive visual and character elements in the gaming sphere. Such an order could compel Tencent to significantly redesign Light of Motiram, strip all infringing promotional materials, and potentially halt portions of the game’s development until the case reaches a full settlement or trial verdict.

The hearing for Sony’s motion for a preliminary injunction is tentatively set for November 20, 2025, in San Francisco. The outcome will have long-lasting implications for how AAA gaming franchises protect their core brand value and exclusive content against alleged imitation in the increasingly competitive, multi-billion dollar open-world gaming segment.

Key Takeaways and Game Review Impact:

• Legal Precedent: The case tests the boundaries of copyright protection for distinct character design and genre elements (e.g., the combination of a red-haired tribal huntress and robotic wildlife). This is a high-value legal case for all game developers.
• Financial Risk: Tencent faces significant financial and developmental risk, including a forced re-design and potential loss of investment in a major open-world survival project.
• Review Focus: Future game reviews of Light of Motiram, should it eventually release, will inevitably focus heavily on its originality and whether it manages to successfully distinguish itself from the Horizon series.
• CPC Keywords: Intellectual Property (High CPC), Copyright Infringement (High CPC), Video Game Lawsuit, Horizon Zero Dawn, Tencent, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Open-World Survival Games, AAA Gaming Franchises.