Sony has dismissed Tencent's latest claim on the Horizon Zero Dawn copyright claim as “nonsense”, insisting that “the damage has already been done – and is continuing.”
He also accused Tencent of trying to copy the “look, sound, characters and storytelling” of the Sony Horizon franchise, including hiring the composer for Horizon Forbidden West, and of violating not only Aloy as a character, but also as a symbol of the Sony PlayStation brand.
Back in July Sony files copyright infringement lawsuit against Tencent. In court documents filed at the time, Sony asked for a jury trial for copyright and trademark infringement and to prevent the “imminent” release of Tencent's upcoming game, accusing it of “breaking up.”[ping] “Horizon is headed by Aloy,” “deliberately causing many game fans to confuse Light of Motiram as the next game in the Horizon series with Tencent's promotional videos and social media accounts.” Tencent has made several changes to the Light of Motiram Steam page. and his advertising art.
Then, last month, Tencent disputed Sony's claims that its upcoming game Light of Motiram – “slave clone” of its popular Horizon series, claiming that the latter does not “fight piracy, plagiarism or any real intellectual property threat” but instead tries to “transform ubiquitous genre ingredients into its own assets”, insisting that Light of Motiram simply uses “time-tested” stereotypes that are outside “the exclusive domain of Sony.”
Now, as I noticed Game postSony denies Tencent's claims that its legal case is “immature” simply because the latter delayed the release of Light of Motiram, and called Tencent's game a “counterfeit” for which “Tencent has refused to accept any responsibility.”
Tencent argues that SIE's claims are immature because – despite announcing and constantly promoting its game for months – Tencent (allegedly) delayed the release of Light of Motiram until 2027 after SIE filed a lawsuit. This is nonsense. The damage has been done – and it continues,” Sony wrote.
“Although the public expressed confusion and outrage upon learning that Light of Motiram was a fake, Tencent was undeterred. Tencent continued to promote its infringing game despite SIE's objections, and Tencent refused to accept any responsibility for its conduct.”
Sony also accused Tencent of developing a “shell game with its brands and organizations” Aurora Studios, Level Infinite and Proxima Beta, but insisted the Chinese firm remains “at the helm.”
“After SIE was forced to file a lawsuit, Tencent attempted to avoid liability by playing shell games with its brands and organizations,” Sony continued. “Tencent has attempted to shield Defendants, which it owns and/or controls, from service of process and is now attempting to evade jurisdiction over its parent company, Tencent Holdings.
“Tencent Holdings describes its business as a gaming division that “owns[s] Aurora Studios is the development studio for Light of Motiram. Tencent Holdings reports all of its gaming revenue and debt in its annual report, without reference to any subsidiary. And it uses the Tencent name to promote its games, such as Light of Motiram, without distinguishing between its subsidiaries.”
Sony also derided Tencent's attempt to “sacrifice the goodwill and reputation of Aloy's character mark,” saying it was “so blatant that numerous journalists and Horizon fans have noted the striking similarities between Aloy's character mark and Tencent's use of Aloy's doppelgänger, saying that Tencent's doppelgänger “is so similar to Aloy—red hair and all that.”
“Light of Motiram, a counterfeit game so blatant that the public loudly condemned the obvious and widespread copying of protected elements of Horizon, threatens the continued success of Horizon, including ongoing expansion plans for the franchise,” Sony added.
“The copying was so blatant that numerous journalists and Horizon fans called Light of Motiram a “massive Horizon rip-off,” an “obvious knockoff,” a “copycat,” with a main character that “reminds the heck out of Aloy” and “extremely similar to Horizon Zero Dawn.”
Finally, Sony asked the court to deny Tencent's motion to dismiss the case. The case continues.
