Sony Interactive Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Tencent over its upcoming game Light of Motiram, with Sony saying it is a “slavish clone” of the Horizon series.
The suit, which was filed on July 25 in California and was seen by GameSpot, sees Sony going after Tencent for copyright and trademark infringement, with Sony demanding a trial by jury. Sony said it is trying to prevent the release of Light of Motiram. “Tencent’s copying of Horizon is so blatant that the public has described it as ‘crazy,’ ‘insane,’ and ‘shameless,'” Sony said in the lawsuit.
SIE further alleged that Tencent came to the company with a pitch to license the Horizon IP, to which SIE declined.
Sony said Tencent is “deliberately causing numerous game lovers to confuse Light of Motiram as the next game in the Horizon series” by way of Tencent promoting it with a “rip-off” of Horizon’s Aloy character.
Tencent’s conduct “has caused and is causing irreparable injury to SIE,” the company said. Sony is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for “each separate work in the Horizon franchise infringed,” as well as for Tencent to deliver SIE’s lawyers all products and marketing materials bearing what it claims to be are “prohibited marks” so Sony’s team can destroy them.
Reuters was first to report on the lawsuit.
Light of Motiram remains available to wishlist on Steam, but it has no release date. The game is in development at Polaris Quest, which is a subsidiary of Tencent.
