Sony has dismissed Tencent’s latest filing regarding its Horizon Zero Dawn copyright lawsuit, calling it “absurd,” insisting that “the damage is done – and it continues.”
It also accused Tencent of attempting to copy the “look, sound, characters and narrative” of Sony’s Horizon franchise, which included hiring Horizon composer Forbidden West and violating not only Aloy as a character, but also as a symbol of Sony’s PlayStation brand.
Last July, Sony filed a lawsuit against Tencent for copyright infringement. In court documents filed at the time, Sony demanded a jury trial for copyright and trademark infringement and to prevent the “imminent” release of Tencent’s next title, accusing it of “ripping off” Horizon leader Aloy, “deliberately causing many game enthusiasts to confuse Light of Motiram with the next game in the Horizon series upon encountering the game promotional videos and Tencent social media. accounts.” Shortly after, Tencent made several changes to Light of Motiram’s Steam page and its promotional artwork.
Then, last month, Tencent disputed Sony’s claims that its upcoming game Light of Motiram would be a “slavish clone” of its Horizon series, saying the latter was not “fighting piracy, plagiarism, or any real threat to intellectual property” but was instead trying to “transform ubiquitous genre ingredients into exclusive assets,” insisting that Light of Motiram simply uses “age-old” tropes that are not the “exclusive domain of Sony”.
Now, as spotted by The Game Post, Sony is refuting Tencent’s claims that its legal case is “not mature” simply because the latter delayed the release of Light of Motiram and called Tencent’s game an “infringement” for which “Tencent refused to accept any responsibility.”
“Tencent remarkably argues that SIE’s claims are not mature because – despite continuously announcing and promoting its game for months – Tencent (allegedly) delayed the release of Light of Motiram until 2027 after SIE filed a lawsuit. This is absurd. The damage is done – and it continues,” Sony wrote.
“Although the public has expressed confusion and outrage upon discovering Light of Motiram for its infringement, Tencent is not deterred. Tencent continued to promote its infringing game despite SIE’s objection, and Tencent refused to accept any responsibility for its conduct.
Sony also accused Tencent of building a “shell game with its brands and entities” Aurora Studios, Level Infinite and Proxima Beta, but insisted the Chinese company remained “in the driver’s seat.”
“After SIE was forced to sue, Tencent attempted to avoid liability by playing a shell game with its brands and entities,” Sony continued. “Tencent has attempted to shield defendants it owns and/or controls from service of process and is now seeking to escape the jurisdiction of the parent entity, Tencent Holdings.
“Tencent Holdings describes its own company as having a games division that ‘owns Aurora Studios’ – the Light of Motiram development studio. Tencent Holdings reports all of its gaming revenue and debt in its annual report without attribution to any subsidiary. And it uses the Tencent name to advertise its games, such as Light of Motiram – without distinguishing between subsidiaries. “
Sony also ridiculed Tencent’s efforts to “compromise on the goodwill and reputation of Aloy’s character brand,” saying it was “so egregious that many Horizon journalists and fans noted the striking similarities between Aloy’s character brand and Tencent’s use of Aloy’s lookalike, stating that Tencent’s lookalike “looks like Aloy down to a point.” t-shirt – red hair and all.”
“Light of Motiram – an infringing game so blatant that the public has loudly denounced the obvious and pervasive copying of Horizon’s copyrighted materials – jeopardizes the continued success of Horizon, including the franchise’s current expansion plans,” Sony added.
“The copying was so blatant that many Horizon journalists and fans called Light of Motiram a ‘major Horizon ripoff,’ ‘an obvious knockoff,’ a ‘copycat’ with a main character who ‘looks like Aloy’ and ‘extremely similar to Horizon Zero Dawn’.”
Sony concluded by asking the court to deny Tencent’s motion to dismiss. The affair continues.
