“Hey, guess what? Another rip-off has just surfaced, and this one might land in some legal hot water pretty soon. Tencent Games, along with its subsidiary Polaris Quest, has unveiled their latest project, Light of Motiram. Interestingly, it bears a striking resemblance to PlayStation’s Horizon series, but here’s the twist—it’s an MMO dedicated solely to PC for the time being.
The announcement came out of nowhere, packed with a detailed press release via Gematsu, a bunch of trailers and screenshots, and even a Steam page that’s already spilling the beans. It’s also set to debut on the Epic Games Store. However, we’re still in the dark about whether it’ll be priced or go the free-to-play route.
I suppose the folks over at Palworld can catch a bit of a breather now. Light of Motiram is poised to draw quite a bit of attention, mostly due to its conspicuous resemblance to a well-established IP. It’s tough to picture Sony not getting worked up and sending their legal team after Tencent. The resemblance goes beyond just aesthetics to the design of creatures which had me doing a double-take, and maybe even a triple—Light of Motiram is blatantly crossing a few boundaries here.
For those curious, check out the primary teaser trailer below. More videos are floating around already:
The ironic part? This announcement lands before PlayStation could even roll out their own online-only Horizon game. It sort of feels like PlayStation’s big leap into the live-service market, which hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park. The early success of Palworld, which has managed to sustain its development for years, shows us that casual players aren’t too bothered if a game mirrors another as long as it’s entertaining. If Polaris Quest has nailed a fun, engaging gameplay loop, then PlayStation and Guerrilla’s upcoming live-service Horizon might be up against some stiff competition. It wouldn’t be surprising if this leads to some legal showdowns (pun intended).
The game promises to revolve around a blend of survival and crafting, a formula that’s been raking in profits lately. The combat, which feels akin to Monster Hunter, seems like the most sensible way to emulate Horizon’s epic battles against machines in a co-op environment. Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if Guerrilla adopts a similar strategy with their Horizon project, which has been in the works for a while now.
In any case, this is just another hurdle in Horizon’s already bumpy journey. The franchise, despite its significance for Sony, hasn’t managed to maintain excitement beyond the launch phases. It often seems overshadowed by more captivating releases that launch around the same time, and more recently, the launch of Lego Horizon Adventures saw underwhelming sales, at least on the PC front.
Even the anticipated live-action Horizon series on Netflix has hit a snag. PlayStation Studios and Netflix have paused the project after reports surfaced about a “toxic work environment” under showrunner Steve Blackman, known for Umbrella Academy. Ouch.”
