According to IGN, Sony and Tencent have reached a “confidential settlement,” ending the copyright lawsuit Sony filed in a California court at the end of July. The lawsuit targeted Tencent’s upcoming game, Light of Motiram, which Sony called a “slavish” copy of Horizon Zero Dawn, citing similarities like a post-apocalyptic world with robot dinosaurs and a red-haired female protagonist. Following the settlement, Light of Motiram has disappeared from the Steam and Epic Games Store, with its store pages redirecting to the platforms’ homepages. New court papers filed on December 17 show the settlement ends both Sony’s lawsuit and Tencent’s counter-suit, with each party covering its own legal fees. The terms are secret, but the game’s removal is a major clue about the outcome.
The Obvious Outcome
Look, let’s be real. When a game this blatantly similar gets yanked from storefronts days after a confidential settlement, it’s not coming back. Tencent’s defense—that it was just using “well-trodden” tropes and that Horizon itself isn’t original—was a bold move, but clearly not bold enough. They even tried to deflect by saying Horizon was similar to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. That’s a classic “I know you are, but what am I?” legal strategy. And it didn’t work.
A Quiet Retreat
Here’s the thing: Tencent updating the Steam screenshots right after the lawsuit dropped was a dead giveaway. They knew they were in hot water. A confidential settlement is the corporate equivalent of “we’ll handle this quietly, no one needs to see the receipts.” For a giant like Tencent, it’s probably cheaper and far less embarrassing to just kill the project and move on than to fight a protracted, public legal battle against a major console platform holder. The disappearance is the message.
Where Does This Leave Clones?
This case is interesting because it wasn’t about copied code or assets, but about concept, aesthetic, and marketing. Sony’s lawsuit was a direct shot across the bow at the “clone” market. So, does this set a precedent? Probably not a firm legal one, given the settlement. But it sends a clear market signal: if your imitation is too “slavish,” as Sony put it, you might attract a lawsuit you can’t just brush off. It raises the risk, especially for companies wanting to sell in Western markets. They’ll need to be more clever about their “inspiration.”
The Bigger Picture
This whole saga feels like a symptom of a crowded market. Everyone’s looking for the next big open-world formula. But there’s a line between being genre-inspired and being a knock-off, and Tencent seems to have crossed it in Sony’s eyes. The quiet settlement means we’ll never know the exact legal arguments that won the day. And maybe that’s the point. The result—a vanished game—speaks louder than any court opinion could. For developers and publishers, it’s a reminder that while genres have common elements, the overall package matters. Copy the homework, but change some words? Sometimes the teacher still notices.
