Unraveling the Legal Tensions: Sony and Tencent’s Legal Battle Over Light of Motiram’ Heats Up

The legal dispute between **Sony** and **Tencent** regarding the similarities of Light of Motiram with the **Horizon** series has taken a new turn. **Sony**’s lawyers have dismissed the arguments presented by the Chinese corporation as «nonsense.» Moreover, court documents revealed that **Sony** was open to collaborating with **Tencent** on a project related to **The Last of Us**.

When **Sony** filed a lawsuit against **Tencent**, the latter attempted to distance itself from Light of Motiram and its developers, asserting that the team responsible for the project, **Polaris Quest**, belonged to a different organization. Additionally, the defendants claimed that the accusers themselves had similar issues, pointing out that Horizon Zero Dawn bears resemblance to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West released in 2013.

Representatives of **Sony** have now accused **Tencent** of engaging in a “shell game” to confuse everyone regarding its subsidiaries and evade responsibility. Plaintiffs noted that **Tencent**’s reports lack subdivision classifications, and on the pages for **Light of Motiram** in stores, the name of the parent company is used. They also deemed the lawyers’ claims from **Tencent** that the accusations are based on assumptions since the title has not yet been released to be unconvincing.

Additionally, **Sony** attached the testimony of **Olivier Courtemanche**, head of mobile at **PlayStation Studios**, to their complaint. He stated that in 2024, his team had indeed communicated with representatives from **Tencent** and **Aurora Studios** at several conferences. During these discussions, the Chinese side introduced the concept of Project Z, which bore similarities to **Horizon** games. However, **Sony** rejected this idea, as they were not interested in licensing the franchise from **Guerrilla Games**. On the other hand, **Tencent** insisted that its developers had put significant effort into Project Z and were focused solely on **Horizon**.

In July 2024, **Courtemanche**’s team traveled to Shenzhen to meet with **Tencent** and its studios, including **Aurora Studios**. The visitors from **PlayStation Studios** thought the purpose of the visit would be to discuss a «potential collaboration» on The Last of Us, but the presentation revolved around Project Z, featuring tribes and machines—key elements of **Horizon**.

**Sony**’s attorneys are requesting that the court deny **Tencent**’s motion to dismiss the case. They also suggested amending their statement if there are points that are unclear to the court and moving directly to the evidence disclosure stage.