Image: Tencent
Light of Motiram looks and sounds like Horizon Zero Dawn, but for legal purposes, isn't?
Tencent has announced an upcoming open-world survival game titled Light of Motiram, whose animal-like machines and tribal designs happen to bear striking similarities with Sony’s Horizon game franchise. The game’s teaser images and trailer showcase robotic animals in a post-apocalyptic world teeming with foliage, along with a protagonist who wields a bow and arrow in combat.
While its gameplay mechanics somewhat differ from Horizon's, its visuals have clearly taken some inspiration from the PlayStation franchise.
Tencent’s new survival game looks a lot like Horizon Zero Dawn
Tencent and Polaris Quest have announced an upcoming multiplayer survival game called Light of Motiram, and plenty of people are already remarking upon its similarities to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Horizon franchise. The game is described as an open-world game “where nature meets machine,” and that’s only where these similarities begin.
Light of Motiram features animal-like machines called ‘Mechanimals’, which populate its open world for players to train or hunt. Unlike Horizon Zero Dawn and its later spin-offs however, the game also features survival elements; players can build a base of operations with customisable structures, team up with up to 10 players, and even customise their Mechanimals.
All of this would be well and good, if not for the game’s more obvious inspirations. Its Mechanimals look exactly like Guerrilla Games’ machines from Horizon, to the point that certain machines look exactly alike. In the trailer alone, we spotted an elephant-like Mechanimal which looks like a Tremortusk from Horizon Forbidden West, and a ram-like Mechanimal which looks like a Charger from Horizon Zero Dawn – and we could keep going.
It’s not just that these machines seem to be based on the same real-world animals, but also that they seem to share a few of the same mechanical parts. Canisters, wires and specific colours appear in the same spots across both games, proving without a shadow of a doubt that Tencent and Polaris Quest drew inspiration from the Horizon franchise here.
These similarities are being noted in the game’s coverage online, with social media users calling Tencent out for supposedly ripping off the Horizon franchise. Twitter/X user Rino sarcastically commented on the reveal, saying “Horizon Zero Originality; Horizon Forbidden Creativity,” while user Not Alex Cruz wrote “This feels illegal lol, I'm sure it's not because you can be inspired by things but like come on lol.”
Many are remarking on this situation being reminiscent of Palworld’s similarities to the Pokemon games, which didn’t exactly end well in the former game maker’s favour. Pocketpair is currently fighting a lawsuit from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company regarding those same similarities.
It remains to be seen if Tencent and Polaris Quest will receive the same treatment from Sony and Guerrilla Games. Light of Motiram is set to launch on mobile devices and PC in 2025.
