Video Games

Sony and Tencent quietly settle Horizon clone lawsuit over Light of Motiram

The case was dismissed with prejudice, officially ending the legal battle.

Update: Dec 18th, 2025 22:08 CET

The legal showdown between Sony Interactive Entertainment and Tencent has come to an abrupt and quiet end as both have reached a confidential settlement regarding the upcoming open-world game Light of Motiram, which Sony had previously labeled a “slavish clone” of its popular Horizon franchise.

The resolution, filed in a California federal court this week (via The Game Post), concludes a dispute that began in July 2025. Sony’s initial lawsuit alleged that Tencent’s project was a blatant copy of Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, citing undeniable similarities in the robotic creature designs, the post-apocalyptic setting, and even the red-haired protagonist’s appearance. While Tencent initially fought back—calling the claims “startling” and accusing Sony of trying to monopolize common genre tropes—both parties have now agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reopened in the future.

Vanished from digital storefronts

The immediate impact is the disappearance of the game itself. Coinciding with the court filing, Light of Motiram has been delisted from both Steam and the Epic Games Store. Links that previously led to the game’s product pages now redirect to the storefronts’ homepages, and the official SteamDB entry marks the application as “retired.” This delisting suggests that the title may either be canceled entirely or undergo a massive creative overhaul. If the game ever returns, it will likely look significantly different to satisfy the terms of the settlement and avoid further conflict with PlayStation’s intellectual property.

Despite the fierce nature of the lawsuit, the official stance from both companies has turned surprisingly diplomatic. Court docs confirm a “confidential settlement of all parties.” For now, the era of “mechanical dinosaurs” belongs firmly to Aloy and the Horizon series. Whether Tencent will re-emerge with a more original concept remains to be seen, but the legal book on this particular controversy is officially closed.