Sony has once again opposed Tencent in court, calling its defense "nonsense" and accusing the company of concealing responsibility for Light of Motiram — a game that, according to Sony, openly copies Horizon.
In July, Sony filed a lawsuit against Tencent, stating that the mobile project Light of Motiram became a "slavish clone" of the Horizon franchise. It allegedly reproduces the world, characters, creatures, and music of the original. In September, Tencent demanded that the lawsuit be dismissed, arguing that there was no violation and that Sony was simply "trying to monopolize the genre."
Now, Sony has filed a new 35-page document demanding that Tencent's arguments be rejected and calling them a "shell game." The company is confident that damage has already been done: videos, images, and marketing materials with copies of the heroine and creatures of Horizon continue to be distributed on Steam, Epic Games Store, and YouTube.
Sony claims that Tencent uses a network of subsidiary studios — Aurora Studios, Level Infinite, and Proxima Beta — to hide the participation of the parent company. At the same time, Tencent Holdings owns the trademark, the domain lightofmotiram.com, and the Tencent Games brand.
According to Sony, Light of Motiram "so obviously copies Horizon that fans and journalists have openly condemned the similarity." The lawsuit states that a character with red hair and a bow was created as an imitation of Aloy and was used on banners, icons, and posters.
Sony is seeking a denial of Tencent's motion to dismiss and intends to proceed to the document disclosure stage in order to gain access to the corporation's internal correspondence.
