According to GameSpot, Sony’s lawsuit against Tencent over the game Light of Motiram has ended. The two companies have reached a confidential settlement, leading to the court case being dismissed earlier this week. As a result, Light of Motiram has been removed from both the Steam and Epic Games Store platforms. Tencent’s head of communications for the Americas, Sean Durkin, confirmed the resolution to The Verge, stating there would be no further public comment. The game, announced last year, was immediately compared to Sony’s Horizon series for its similar post-apocalyptic world and animal-like robots, prompting the legal action.
Clones and Confidential Deals
So, that’s that. A game gets accused of being a blatant copy, a lawsuit flies, and then it all gets swept under the rug with a “confidential settlement.” It’s the classic corporate playbook. But here’s the thing: this wasn’t just some random indie studio. This was Tencent, a gaming and investment behemoth. The lawsuit docs, which you can see here, are now just a footnote to a private deal we’ll never know the details of. Did Tencent pay a hefty sum? Did they agree to never work on anything remotely Horizon-like again? We can only guess.
The Pitch That Started It All
The backstory makes this even juicier. According to reports, Tencent actually pitched Sony on making an official Horizon game set in Asia first. Sony said no. Then, lo and behold, Tencent comes out with Light of Motiram. You can see why Sony’s legal team might have felt a bit… provoked. Tencent’s defense that Sony was trying to monopolize “Horizon-like games” is a clever, if shaky, argument. It’s like making a superhero movie with a billionaire in a bat-themed suit and calling it original. Come on. The visual and tonal similarities were apparently too close for comfort, and in the world of multi-million dollar IP, comfort is everything.
Sony’s Horizon Strategy Comes Into Focus
This whole saga highlights Sony’s fiercely protective stance over its major franchises as it expands them beyond the PlayStation console. They’re not just making sequels anymore. They’re building a multimedia universe. Killing a clone lawsuit is one side of that coin. The other side is the active expansion they just announced: a new mobile and PC MMORPG called Horizon Steel Frontiers with NCSoft. They want to control the narrative, the style, and the platform. A clone, especially from a giant like Tencent, directly threatens that control and potentially dilutes the brand’s value before Sony even gets its own spin-offs out the door. This settlement clears the field for Sony’s own plans.
What This Means For Big-Budget Clones
Basically, this is a warning shot. Big companies with deep pockets can and will sue over IP that looks too similar, even if the clone comes from another giant. It’s not just about copyright law; it’s about market positioning and protecting future revenue streams. For developers, the lesson is clear: getting “inspired” by a mega-hit is one thing, but creating what a federal lawsuit called a “slavish clone” is a massive legal and financial risk. The game is gone, and the details are sealed. In the end, Sony protected its territory, and Tencent likely decided it was cheaper to settle than to fight a prolonged, reputation-damaging battle. Business as usual, then.
