Tencent’s Latest Game Faces Allegations of Imitating Guerrilla’s Horizon Series

Lately, a freshly unveiled game from Tencent called Light of Motiram is in the spotlight, and not for the best reasons. It’s facing criticism from the gaming community because of its striking resemblance to Guerrilla Games’ popular Horizon series. While games taking cues from successful titles isn’t out of the ordinary, the similarities here are a bit too on-the-nose.

The Horizon series, despite being relatively new, has become a standout among PlayStation’s celebrated titles. The first in the series, Horizon Zero Dawn, was adored by gamers for its captivating post-apocalyptic world, filled with the danger of roaming mechanized creatures. With over 24 million copies sold, it launched a successful franchise. Just last year, Guerrilla revealed it’s working on no less than 16 Horizon projects.

The distinctiveness of Horizon’s world makes any nod towards it easily noticeable, and this is certainly the case with Light of Motiram. Developed by Tencent’s Polaris Quest, its description on Steam heavily implies a Horizon influence. It’s presented as an open-world adventure where “human civilization has ceased to exist” and “nature meets machine,” which immediately rings a bell for Horizon fans. However, the game doesn’t stop there.

Looking deeper into Light of Motiram, its visuals mirror Horizon’s lush landscapes, mechanical wildlife, and primitive human communities. A particularly eyebrow-raising similarity is the red-haired female character sporting a bow and arrow, reminiscent of Aloy, Horizon’s lead. It also features “Mechanimals” that can be tamed, echoing Horizon’s machine override feature. Yet, it does try to carve out its own identity by offering features like co-op play for up to nine people and shelter-building mechanics.

The backlash over its obvious inspiration is intense, raising questions about whether Guerrilla Games and Sony might take legal action against Polaris Quest and Tencent. This scenario isn’t far-fetched, considering Nintendo recently sued Palworld developer Pocket Pair over similar issues. Light of Motiram is set for a 2025 release on both PC and mobile platforms, but any potential legal challenges could alter that timeline if Sony decides to step in.