Sony Escalates Legal Battle Against Tencent Over ‘Horizon’ Clone, Seeks Preliminary Injunction to Block Alleged IP Infringement

In a significant escalation of the ongoing intellectual property dispute, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Chinese tech behemoth Tencent, seeking to bar the company from promoting or releasing its upcoming adventure game, Light of Motiram. Sony alleges that the title is a blatant, “slavish clone” of its highly successful, flagship PlayStation franchise, Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, constituting a clear case of copyright infringement and trademark violation.

This high-stakes legal maneuver, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is the latest development in a lawsuit initially launched by SIE in July 2025. Sony’s primary objective with the injunction is to immediately stop Tencent’s use of key elements that it claims were directly lifted from the Horizon IP—most notably, the visual appearance of the game’s protagonist, a fiery red-haired “tribal warrior huntress” that SIE argues is a deliberate and confusing lookalike of Aloy, the iconic heroine of the Horizon series.

The Allegations: A Case of Pervasive Copying

SIE’s court documents argue that the similarities between Light of Motiram and the Horizon games extend far beyond superficial elements, pointing to a deliberate effort to copy the “look, sound, characters, and narrative” of the multi-million-selling franchise. The legal filing highlights several points of alleged infringement, which include:

• A main character that is a red-haired tribal huntress, allegedly copying Aloy’s unique and protected character design (Aloy Character Mark).
• A setting that fuses post-apocalyptic primitive tribal aesthetics with futuristic, machine-driven wildlife and remnants of an advanced civilization.
• Visual and functional similarities in the user interface and game mechanics.
• The alleged use of a musical melody in promotional material that closely resembles compositions from the Horizon Zero Dawn original soundtrack.

Sony emphasizes that the copying was so “egregious” that numerous journalists and the wider gaming community immediately and “loudly decried the obvious and pervasive copying” upon Light of Motiram’s announcement. This public reaction, SIE argues, confirms the likelihood of consumer confusion and demonstrates that the “damage is done, and it continues.”

Tencent’s Defense: ‘Generic Tropes’ and ‘Shell Games’

Tencent has vigorously denied the accusations, filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The Chinese gaming giant maintains that Light of Motiram merely utilizes “time-honored tropes” and genre conventions common in the open-world adventure game landscape, citing other titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West as examples of similar thematic elements. Tencent’s legal team has argued that Sony is attempting to establish an “impermissible monopoly” on generic ideas.

Furthermore, Tencent has leveraged the game’s scheduled release date in late 2027 to argue that an immediate preliminary injunction is unnecessary, as Sony “cannot possibly hope to demonstrate the ‘immediate threatened injury'” required for such relief. Following the initial lawsuit, Tencent also quietly updated the Light of Motiram Steam page, removing several screenshots and the original promotional cover image featuring the Aloy-like protagonist.

Sony, however, has countered by accusing Tencent of “playing a shell game” with its various subsidiaries to shield itself from liability and of downplaying the impact of its promotional activities. Sony asserts that the promotion and public perception of the “knock-off game” already jeopardize Horizon’s continued success and its expansion plans, making the injunction essential.

The Stakes: High-CPC Keywords and IP Protection

The outcome of this legal confrontation holds massive implications for the video game industry and global Intellectual Property (IP) protection. With the global market for high-budget video games expanding, the defense of exclusive, high-value game assets and characters like Aloy—a key component of the PlayStation brand’s marketing—is critical. CPC keywords related to major franchises like Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayStation 5 games, and open-world RPGs drive significant advertising revenue and consumer interest, placing the commercial stakes of this dispute extremely high.

SIE’s motion for a preliminary injunction is a clear declaration that the company intends to vigorously defend its AAA gaming investment and brand identity against what it calls a “slavish clone.” The court, presided over by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, is expected to hear the motion in the coming weeks, a decision that will set a powerful precedent for digital copyright enforcement across international borders, especially concerning the practices of massive global corporations like Tencent Holdings.