Tencent has agreed to hold off on any promotion of its upcoming open-world survival game Light of Motiram – a game that Sony alleged is a "slavish clone" of its own Horizon titles – at least until things reach an important next step in the two companies' ongoing legal battle.
Light of Motiram, developed by Tencent subsidiary Polaris Quest, was unveiled last year, and immediately found itself being compared to Horizon Zero Dawn thanks to its animal-like machine foes, key visuals, and concept. Sony clearly thought it looked rather familiar, too, as it filed a lawsuit against Tencent earlier this year, calling Light of Motiram a "slavish clone." Tencent has defended itself, arguing that Sony's action is "an improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of popular culture and declare it Sony's exclusive domain," and later declaring that "fame does not create a trademark; to qualify as a trademark, a mark must serve as a source identifier for a particular good or service."
For context, back in October, Sony sought a preliminary injunction – essentially, an order which stops a party from doing something until the courts make their final decision. In this case, it wanted to stop Tencent "from reproducing, preparing derivative works of, displaying, performing, and distributing any works copied or derived from SIE's Horizon Works, including Light of Motiram, and from using the ALOY Character Mark or any confusingly similar mark pending trial."
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