The lawyers in Sony and Tencent’s ongoing legal fracas over alleged Horizon homework-copier Light of Motiram continue to dish out the words. Letters, phrases, and sentences are being flung to and fro with reckless abandon. Sony are the latest corp to take a swing, not only calling Tencent’s defense “nonsense”, but accusing the Chinese conglomerate of playing shell company hide-and-seek.
If you need to catch up on the tale of this copyright clash, it began in July, when Sony brought about legal action accusing Tencent-published post-apocalyptic open worlder Light of Motiram of being a “slavish clone” of their Horizon series. Tencent battled back, filing a motion to dismiss the case last month. “Sony’s effort is not aimed at fighting off piracy, plagiarism, or any genuine threat to intellectual property,” Tencent claimed at the time. “It is an improper attempt to fence off a well-trodden corner of popular culture and declare it Sony’s exclusive domain.”
Fast forward to now and Sony taking a chance to respond to that defense in a court filing spotted by The Game Post. “Tencent remarkably contends SIE’s claims are unripe because – despite having announced and continuously promoted its game for months – Tencent (purportedly) delayed Light of Motiram’s release until 2027 after SIE sued,” Sony’s complaint reads. “This is nonsense. The damage is done – and it continues.”
The delay referenced, which has seen Tencent push the Polaris Quest-developed game to the end of 2027, came alongside a revamp of Light of Motiram’s Steam page which happened to ditch some elements accused of Horizon similarities.
Sony also accuse Tencent of deliberately trying to muddy the waters when it comes to who’s responsible for Light of Motiram, and therefore should be the main target of the lawsuit. The suit’s been aimed at Tencent America, Proxima Beta U.S, and Tencent Holdings, but Tencent have previously claimed that this is a case of barking up the wrong trees in a forest of subsidiaries. In response, Sony have now accused Tencent of using their labyrinthine and multi-armed nature in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for a game Sony claim got the thumbs up all the way up the chain.
“Tencent attempted to avoid liability by playing a shell game with its brands and entities,” Sony said. “Tencent tried to shield Defendants that it owns and/or controls from service of process and now seeks to escape jurisdiction over the parent entity, Tencent Holdings.”
“Tencent Holdings describes its own business as having a Games division that ‘own[s] Aurora Studios’ — the Light of Motiram development studio,” they added. “Tencent Holdings reports all of its revenue and debt from games on its annual report without attribution to any subsidiary. And it uses the name Tencent to advertise its games, like Light of Motiram — without distinguishing between subsidiaries.”
I assume that reading through this echoes how it’d feel to watch two Ancient Greek titans battle. Each entity calling upon their unspeakable mass and power which mortals can scarcely comprehend, as they grapple like sumo wrestlers amid shaking mountains and boiling seas. Guttural roars and exhalings of breath that blow away villages rain down, as the possession of the thing is decided. Both wronged in their own minds, ruthlessly fighting the side to which fate has assigned them.
If nothing else, it’s something to think about while lamenting the fact that this titanic tussle is basically two sets of very boring lawyers passing about bits of paper and counseling frowny execs.
