Sony’s recent lawsuit against Tencent’s Polaris Quest studio over the game Light of Motiram, for similarities to the Horizon franchise, reads like a bizarre déjà vu moment for me, and I think for many gamers. And it speaks to a deeper issue with games and creativity.

The claim? That Tencent’s new open-world, but unreleased, adventure appears to have heavily borrowed from Sony’s beloved Horizon game franchise, right down to the bow-wielding red-haired heroine, towering mechanical animals, and tribal-futuristic aesthetics.

First reported by Reuters, Sony is asking for $150,000 per infringed work and an immediate halt to the game’s release. But beyond the courtroom drama, this case reveals something deeper: the games industry is artistically stuck in a loop, suffering creative exhaustion.

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(Image credit: Polaris Quest)

More of the same

Let’s not beat around the bush – Horizon Zero Dawn and its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, are massive successes. Since its 2017 debut, Horizon Zero Dawn has sold over 24 million copies worldwide, and Forbidden West has added roughly 8.4 million more, bringing the franchise’s total to over 32 million (according to VGchartz). This franchise has become one of Sony’s most important, with a film in production, and according to X/Twitter rumour account TCMFGames, there’s a third game planned for PlayStation 6, coming in 2027, so you can see why Sony is protecting its IP.

But here’s the thing: the Light of Motiram case isn’t an isolated incident; I’m old enough to remember the Palworld AI plagiarism brouhaha. It’s a symptom of a larger creative drought affecting the games industry. The global games market is massive, at around $188 billion in 2024, according to a study by Adtonos, yet growth has slowed to a modest 2.1%. Budgets have ballooned, with AAA games routinely topping $200 million (according to data gathered on Wikipedia). That kind of money breeds caution and massages risk out of the development cycle.

In this environment, it’s easier to clone than innovate. Tencent, already the biggest publisher in gaming by revenue, understands this. As reported by The Verge, when Sony declined a partnership offer to co-develop a Horizon spinoff in 2024, Tencent later revealed Light of Motiram, a game that, as widely noted, bears notable visual and thematic similarities to Horizon. Visuals, setting, character design – the similarities are close, but that’s for the lawsuit to decide.

(Image credit: Polaris Quest)

This lawsuit is a spotlight on how quickly successful ideas get copied, sometimes literally. Remember the flood of PUBG clones, or mobile games that feel like pixel-perfect reruns of classics? It’s a trend that’s accelerated as mobile gaming surges ahead, now boasting over 3.4 billion players worldwide (according to TekRevol). But what does that mean for originality?

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The real tragedy is that Horizon itself, while stunning and ambitious, already felt like a remix of post-apocalyptic tribal tech themes that have been simmering for years. What set it apart was its use of nature documentaries and real-world tribal cultures mixed in with the sci-fi tropes to offer something new. While gameplay mixes in nods to Zelda and Assassin’s Creed, artistically, Horizon broke new ground.

Horizon’s defined visual style and ambition made it a hard game to clone, unlike the swathes of Soulslikes and PUBG imitators that have become the staple on current consoles. Now, time and money seem to have caught up with Horizon, with developers finding it easier to riff on the art and ambition of Horizon, and the cycle of ‘clone, rinse, repeat’ that leaves players and creators trapped in a creative loop feels easier to accomplish.

(Image credit: Polaris Quest)

Are players to blame?

And players are partly to blame. We clamor for the latest Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty like clockwork and pre-order sequels en masse, rewarding safe familiarity. Publishers follow the money, greenlighting what’s proven rather than what’s daring. And then we complain when Concord gets greenlit over Days Gone, because it’s riding a trend. I enjoyed Star Wars Outlaws, but it felt familiar; I liked Doom: The Dark Ages, but it was re-running old ground.

So what’s missing? Genuine risk, bold new genres, games that surprise and disrupt. Indie hits like Blue Prince or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have become precious exceptions in a sea of photorealistic open worlds and sprawling skill trees that sometimes feel more like spreadsheets. Even the Soulslikes I’ve enjoyed, like Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, are struggling to find new ideas in a genre of diminishing returns.

Sony’s lawsuit might shut down this particular clone, but the root issue is deeper. Until the industry champions fresh voices and players embrace the unexpected, lawsuits over lookalikes will keep appearing. In short, the Horizon clone issue isn’t just a legal battle; it’s a symptom of creative stagnation. And that’s the real ‘game over’ we should be worried about.

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