Sony has fired back against Tencent as part of a continuing lawsuit over its Horizon “knock-off” Light of Motiram, claiming the Chinese conglomerate’s defence is “nonsense”.
Last November, Tencent revealed Light of Motiram, which was immediately compared to Sony’s Horizon games. As a result, the PlayStation maker has sued Tencent for allegedly ripping off its popular games; Tencent then retaliated by stating Sony’s claims of originality were “startling”.
Now Sony is fighting back. In a new court filing (thanks The Game Post), Sony has accused Tencent of “playing a shell game” with its subsidiaries to shield itself from liability.
“Tencent remarkably contends SIE’s claims are unripe because – despite having announced and continuously promoted its game for months – Tencent (purportedly) delayed Light of Motiram’s release until 2027 after SIE sued,” Sony said in its complaint. “This is nonsense. The damage is done – and it continues.”
“Although the public expressed confusion and outrage upon discovering Light of Motiram for the knock-off that it is, Tencent remained undeterred. Tencent continued promoting its infringing game over SIE’s objection, and Tencent refused to accept any responsibility over its conduct.”
Tencent quietly updated the Steam page for Light of Motiram, removing a number of screenshots and a cover image of its Aloy-like protagonist. However, as Sony has claimed, “the damage is done”.
In its defence, Tencent claimed Sony was attempting to sue the wrong company. Sony’s lawsuit is against Tencent America, Proxima Beta U.S., and Tencent Holdings, but Tencent itself said the game is being developed and published by Polaris Quest / Aurora Studios, a developer operating under Tencent Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, and Proxima Beta PTE Ltd, a company in Singapore “doing business as ‘Tencent Games‘ and/or ‘Level Infinite'”.
“After SIE was forced to sue, Tencent attempted to avoid liability by playing a shell game with its brands and entities,” Sony has now said. “Tencent tried to shield Defendants that it owns and/or controls from service of process and now seeks to escape jurisdiction over the parent entity, Tencent Holdings.”
It continued: “Tencent Holdings describes its own business as having a Games division that ‘own[s] Aurora Studios’ – the Light of Motiram development studio. Tencent Holdings reports all of its revenue and debt from games on its annual report without attribution to any subsidiary. And it uses the name Tencent to advertise its games, like Light of Motiram – without distinguishing between subsidiaries.”
Sony has also claimed reactions from the public and media highlight the resemblance between the games and will jeopardise the success of the Horizon series.
“Light of Motiram – a knock-off game so blatant that the public loudly decried the obvious and pervasive copying of Horizon’s protected elements – jeopardises Horizon’s continued success, including current expansion plans for the franchise,” said Sony.
“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‘.”
Sony has further claimed Horizon protagonist Aloy is a symbol of the brand, and that Tencent’s “Aloy lookalike” is an “egregious” effort to trade off its character’s “goodwill and reputation”.
As a result, Sony has requested the court deny Tencent’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
