Sony’s Battle Over Horizon Clone Concludes

After taking legal action against Tencent for allegedly creating a “slavish clone” of its Horizon games, Sony has wrapped up its legal dispute with the company. The game, Light of Motiram, has been removed from both Steam and the Epic Games Store, and the court case has been dismissed. Recent court documents reveal that Tencent has reached a “confidential settlement” with Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sean Durkin, head of communications for Tencent Americas, stated that “SIE and Tencent are pleased to have reached a confidential resolution and will have no further public comment on this matter.”

Light of Motiram, announced last year, drew immediate comparisons to Sony’s Horizon series due to its similar art style and tone, featuring vibrant environments and animal-like robots. Sony acted swiftly by filing a lawsuit. As discussions progressed, Sony requested that Tencent halt all public promotion or testing of Light of Motiram. Reports suggest that Tencent proposed a Horizon-themed game set in Asia, which Sony declined, leading Tencent to argue that the lawsuit was an attempt by Sony to monopolize games resembling Horizon. Sony countered by accusing Tencent of using legal tactics to evade the consequences of allegedly infringing on its intellectual property.

While Light of Motiram appears to be off the table, a new Horizon mobile game is in the works. Sony and NCSoft recently announced an MMORPG titled Horizon Steel Frontiers, set to launch on both mobile devices and PC.