Tencent wanted to make a Horizon mobile game, but Sony refused them...twice

Tencent wanted to make a Horizon game, but Sony denied them...twice. Tencent went ahead and made their own game, and it's so close to the Horizon series that Sony is now suing Tencent for copyright infringement.

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The 48-page complaint tells an interesting story about Tencent's desire to make a Horizon game and how Sony denied Tencent's offers on two separate occasions.

According to the lawsuit, Tencent wanted to make a mobile game based on the Horizon franchise. Tencent's Aurora Studios put together a pitch with the tagline "expanding the Horizon," aiming for a live service mobile title. Sony refused. Tencent went ahead with Light of Motiram, a game with quite stark visual similarities to Horizon. When Sony learned about Motiram, they approached Tencent and tried to get things ironed out behind the scenes. When that didn't work, Sony sued Tencent.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Northern California District Courts, outlines what happened from Sony's perspective.

Sony denied Tencent's offer in 2024, and it went like this per the complaint: "[We] greatly appreciate Aurora's level of passion and the effort put into the pitch...given where Guerrilla Games and Horizon franchise is, we don't think it makes sense to pursue a Horizon universe crossover or full game development with that IP."

The lawsuit states that Tencent had the gall to ask Sony for the Horizon license again after Sony learned about Light of Motiram and the game's similarities with Horizon.

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Reports indicate that Guerrilla Games is working with NCSoft on a new online-driven Horizon game, but nothing has been announced just yet.

Check below for a breakdown of what went down as per Sony's accounts:

Upon information and belief, sometime in 2023 (and unbeknownst to Sony) Tencent started developing a video game called "Light of Motiram" which-just like Horizon-features a young, red-headed female protagonist and tribal groups fighting for survival among large robotic animals in a post-apocalyptic world. In March 2024, at a gaming conference in San Francisco, California, Tencent executives approached Sony with a pitch: to develop its own Horizon game in collaboration with SIE. Sony rejected the idea and considered the matter closed.

Apparently, Tencent was undeterred by SIE's refusal to license its Horizon intellectual property. Tencent continued secretly developing Light of Motiram, eventually

Earlier this year, Sony had discussions with Tencent trying to informally resolve its concern that Light of Motiram violated its intellectual property rights.

Tencent again sought to license the Horizon intellectual property. Sony (again) communicated clearly and unequivocally that it would not license the Horizon assets to Tencent, objected to Light of Motiram, and insisted that it be withdrawn.

Tencent has since signaled that it rejected Sony's demands and would forge ahead, releasing a new promotional trailer for Light of Motiram and announcing that, "[i]n the near future, Light of Motiram will also commence global testing."9 Tencent has continued to release additional promotional materials suggesting the game will soon be made available for play testing.

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Tencent Shanghai contributed to the pitch by Tencent executives in San Francisco requesting that SIE grant Tencent a license in the Horizon intellectual property, wherein they proposed that Aurora Studios would develop a Horizon sequel game under the requested license.

After being refused for a license, Tencent Shanghai continued to develop Light of Motiram for publication and distribution in the United States. Tencent Shanghai did so despite Sony's subsequent demand that it cease its infringement, knowing that its continued infringement would harm SIE in this District.