Tencent's new Horizon Zero Dawn ripoff is so blatant that even Blizzard's former president is speaking up about it

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a robot dinosaur and some people stand infront of a swirling vortex
(Image credit: Polaris Quest)

An upcoming Tencent game is drawing ire for how similar it looks to Horizon Zero Dawn. Former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra even took to Twitter to mention it, writing, "Ladies and gentlemen - Tencent," above the game's announcement.

Light of Motiram is a "mechanimal" multiplayer open-world survival crafting game that many have pointed out looks unbelievably similar to the Horizon series. It's due to launch on PC and consoles in 2025, the same year we're expecting the Horizon MMO that's already in the works to come.

Like Horizon, Light of Motiram also features a bow-wielding red-haired protagonist in what appears to be Native American-inspired clothing. The game is about rebuilding human civilization in "a lush world dominated by mechanical beasts."

One of the promo images for Light of Motiram has a near indistinguishable composition to one of Horizon's. Both feature their protagonists standing on the left of the frame, under a tree while looking over a valley filled with huge robots, and each has snow-capped mountains in the distance – even the sun is streaking in from the same direction. Light of Motiram's image has a slightly higher angle and is closer to the protagonist, but at a glance these images look very alike.

Image 1 of 2
a bow-wielding red-haired woman in what appears to be Native American-inspired clothing stands under a tree to the left of the screen, looking out at a valley filled with robot dinosaurs and snow-capped mountains in the background. the sun streaks down from the left to the right diagonally
(Image credit: Polaris Quest)

I've reached out to the game's PR agency, but no comment was provided by the time of publication.

There are some key differences between the two games, however. As per a press release and as can be seen in a gameplay video, Light of Motiram is more of a survival game. It has a building system with "realistic physics simulation where every beam or brick is subject to physics and the forces of nature."

A cross between Ark: Survival Evolved and Horizon Zero Dawn is honestly a very solid elevator pitch for a game, and is very reminiscent of Palworld which features Pokemon-like creatures but with survival mechanics. Palworld is currently dealing with a lawsuit from Nintendo, though.

If you're a fan of the genre, why not check out the best survival games you can play right now?

Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.