Tencent Asks Court to Exit from Claim Filed by Sony over 'Horizon' Copyright Case
The competition in the legal battle between Sony Interactive Entertainment and Tencent has now gotten intensifier as Tencent has filed a motion to dismiss the copyright claim against the game 'Light of Motiram.' This lawsuit filed by Sony back in July 2025 suggests that the said game is a full-blown copycat of that of Guerrilla game's 'Horizon' series. Tencent's defense counsel argued before saying that there are a number of flaws in the case and that Sony has attempted to monopolize common themes in video game.
Tencent's Main Arguments for Dismissal
Several strong reasons were put out by the Tencent team's legal representatives why the case should be dismissed:
- Jurisdictional Issues: The motion further states that the wrong entities have been sued by Sony. Tencent Holdings is a parent company from the Cayman Islands and China and does not directly develop the game. The entities developing the game actually are said not to have been properly served in this case.
- Case is Speculative: Given that 'Light of Motiram' is releasing end of 2027, according to Tencent, whatever is claimed to be infringements would have yet to take place and are mere speculations.
- Monopolizing Genre Conventions: The defender's core platoon is there is an attempt from Sony to make unfair ownership of popular cultural tropes that spread use in numerous games.
Using Guerrilla Games' Own Words as Evidence
Maybe the most consequential part of Tencent's motion would be using quotations from Guerrilla Games's own developers. The argument contains quotes from Lead Artist Jan-Bart van Beek taken from some documentary in which he had to confess that the 'Horizon' pitch was temporarily shelved, due to some resemblance it had with the game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West launched in 2013.
Enslaved is basically post-apocalyptic, a female protagonist, machines that were slumbering that would be awakened. So I myself went to Hermen and I said like, I don't think we should do this, it touches too much of these other points. And Hermen, he sort of was very reluctant. He said like okay, well, I think it's a bad idea to do this, but you know, we'll can it for now and maybe we'll look at it later.
This argument forms the basis of the motion that if Horizon drew from existing ideas, then forgone claim to monopoly rights cannot be established now by Sony over them. The motion also mentions other titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , Far Cry : Primal and Biomutant as other games adopting similar themes.
The Changing Face of 'Light of Motiram'
To further distance the game from the 'Horizon' IP, modifications have already been made to 'Light of Motiram' by the developers. Notably, the screenshots no longer displayed the red-headed, Aloy-like protagonist that had been part of its first reveal. While different mechanics are expected- base-building survival mechanics and an online cooperative experience-these will not be part of the core 'Horizon' games.
Next Steps
The next move in regard to this legal brawl would be upon Sony, who would have to respond with the objection raised by Tencent. The last remains in this respect, and any important news in the case will be announced when they happen.
