Horizon Zero Dawn fans have been mercilessly piling on a very blatant rip-off of the game, and it is with great joy (and a hint of smugness) that I get to proclaim I saw this coming a mile off.
In case you haven’t heard, Sony is suing Tencent for quite obviously ripping off Horizon Zero Dawn with their latest game Light of Motiram.
If you haven’t heard of Light of Motiram, then here’s a write-up of the game that I published at the start of the month. Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just flexing the fact that I stated I was “pretty certain it may lead to some legal action” in the opening paragraph.
The thing is, even though it’s pretty obvious that developer Polaris Quest (a subsidiary of Tencent) stole Horizon Zero Dawn’s entire flow, it’s actually way worse than I assumed when I first covered this game.
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As noted in the initial report from Reuters' Blake Brittain, Tencent didn’t just blatantly rip-off the designs for Horizon Zero Dawn, they also did it after pitching a live service Horizon game to Sony (which Sony ultimately rejected).
In short, Tencent is absolutely screwed here.
Look, it’s one thing to pilfer some designs and mechanics from another game, but it’s another thing entirely to do it after the copyright holder has already rejected a proposal from you featuring the exact same game you’re ripping off.
A judge is going to take one look at this case and rule in Sony’s favour based on that alone. I have no idea how Tencent thought they’d get away with this.
Fans have been tearing the game to shreds. "Shameless," one wrote on Reddit, while another added, "Blatant rip off".
Also, just a fun side note… GAMINGBible’s own Olly Smith is actually quoted as one of Sony’s sources in the lawsuit itself.
I mean, they could have linked my article, too, but whatever. I’m not jealous. Olly’s article about it was great. Almost as good as mine.
Topics: Horizon Forbidden West, Horizon Zero Dawn, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony, Guerrilla Games