Sony and Tencent have reportedly reached a legal settlement over the latter’s survival-crafter Light of Motiram, which has been the subject of a court battle regarding similarities to Sony’s Horizon series.
According to The Verge, which cites a court document filed yesterday (at time of writing), a “confidential settlement” has been reached between Sony and Tencent, although the terms of said settlement haven’t been disclosed.
Tencent communications head Sean Durkin told The Verge that the two companies are “pleased to have reached a confidential resolution”, and that Tencent, at least, will offer no further public comment on the matter. Durkin also added that Sony and Tencent “look forward to working together in the future”.
Since the terms haven’t been disclosed, we don’t know what Sony and Tencent have agreed upon with regards to Light of Motiram, but we do know that the game is no longer listed on Steam, which could point to an extensive rebrand being on the cards for the near future.
If you need a refresher, Light of Motiram was first announced back in November last year, quickly attracting attention for its art style’s similarities to Sony and Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series.
These similarities were clearly subsequently brought to the attention of Sony itself, because the gaming giant filed a lawsuit against Tencent in July, calling Light of Motiram a “slavish clone” of Horizon and alleging copyright infringement.
Although the Steam page for Light of Motiram has been killed, it’s entirely possible Tencent will revive the project under a different name, although doing so will probably also require an extensive rework of the aesthetic (and potentially even the underlying gameplay mechanics).
As for Horizon, Sony already has its own massively multiplayer project in the works in the form of Horizon Steel Frontiers, which is a collaboration with Korean studio NCSoft.
