In a world ruled by Temu, the existence of Chinese product clones shocks no one, and it would appear that video games can’t escape this either. Chinese game publisher Tencent announced their upcoming game Light of Motiram last year; a survival game with a flame-haired female protagonist, set in a post apocalyptic world inhabited by “mechanimals”. If this setting sounds familiar to you, maybe you’re a fan of the Horizon franchise. You also aren’t alone with that interpretation.
Sony is suing Tencent for copyright issues in light of the announcement of the Light of Motiram. At the time, the marketing material was very similar to Horizon’s, including a protagonist that looked and dressed just like the now-iconic Aloy. Now, amid complaints filed by Sony, Tencent has changed almost all of the marketing materials of their upcoming game.
Tencent had to adjust their marketing material on the Steam page so drastically that it is difficult to even know what the game is about now, which bodes poorly for their case. However, does anyone really care about Sony in this situation? Why should we?
There’s no doubt that the similarities are striking, and many people commented on that fact when the trailer dropped. But there’s no way that the release of this game would do anything other than generate talk and build interest in Horizon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly frustrating when major publishers rip off smaller developers. Except, the little guy can’t afford to fight back in those situations, and a AAA game will certainly affect the sales outcomes of any indie game it “drew inspiration from”.
Sony vs Tencent is an even battlefield as they are both massive companies. In fact, I’ve seen almost no mention of the actual developers of Horizon, Guerilla Games. Sony hasn’t spoken out in defence of their hard work, only seeming to care about the marketing materials and receiving money for damages.
Can we even blame Tencent for trying to pull this off? Pocketpair famously “ripped off” Pokemon with Palworld, and all it did was generate so much popularity that other publishers started to fund their own clones of Palworld. This includes Tencent themselves, who is now developing a massive mobile clone of that game (according to the Pocketpair’s CEO, anyway).
Not to mention, Sony released the Horizon: Zero Dawn Remaster not too long ago. I wonder how this drama boosted sales and clicks?
Kathrynf 
Alexander Hanjin De Filippo 
Eabha Quinn