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This one is pretty clear. Tencent is saying that Sony is trying to copyright an entire genre, like sci fi.
In reality it's more like if Sony made Star wars, and tencent made the star of death with the jidoos with lasersabres. Tencent is just trying to say "how dare you trying to copyright sci fi!"
It's not copyright, it's trademark. Sony isn't claiming they're the same characters, they're claiming that the style is so similar that people would mistakenly believe that Light of Motiram is actually a Horizon game, which is why this case is so stupid; it is a blatant ripoff, but ripoffs aren't illegal, and no one is going to actually mix them up.
Sony (Horizon vs Light of Motiram) and Nintendo (Pokemon vs Palword), man. They really hurt the gaming industries freedom. Now we just need Microsoft (Blizzard) to sue Marvel Rivals for copying Overwatch in some form, then the Triforce is complete.
Nah. This is waaay more of an infringement than Palworld. I can’t even tell the difference in screenshots.
You not being able to tell the difference in screenshots is not an infringement. These are two different games, that look similar and play similar. Its totally fine to do this. It's sad that companies and even some players (like you) do not want that. Doing something similar should be okay.
Imagine cars couldn't look the same, or websites couldn't look the same or couldn't be structured the same. Or imagine every music you listen to has to be vastly different from anything else. This stifles creativity and competition. Otherwise no one can improve on existing games.
As long as nothing directly is stolen, like the exact art, program code or whatever copyright is, it's okay. I want more of the "same", from more devs, more competition. I want more Pokemon, more Horizon, more Overwatch and I'm not even joking.
Or imagine every music you listen to has to be vastly different from anything else.
Yeah...imagine if you could sue because someone put out a song with a beat almost identical to your own, which is what Sony is alleging happened here: https://americansongwriter.com/ice-ice-baby-and-the-david-bowie-queen-legal-battle-that-tainted-vanilla-ices-career/
An identical sound means its a theft. That's not the issue "we" or "I" am talking about. The issue with the games getting sued is, because they are similar. There is no audio, graphic or code being identical. It's more like, if the music sounds similar, then you can sue someone.
Edit: Off course the situation with the "beat" being identical is petty and probably not under copyright anyway. I don't think you can copyright a "beat".
“Stifles creativity” when talking about this game is hilarious. Running defence of this game is ridiculous, it’s clearly a total ripoff which is why Sony is challenging them on it. Tencent has the budget to actually take risks and do something creative. This is just pathetic. Lots of games do what you are talking about. This isn’t one of them. It reeks of being designed in a corporate office by committee.
I'm all for game "copies" like this to exist, otherwise we end up in situations like Nintendo suing Palword or worse. And yes, I am talking about stifles creativity. No company should be in a position to sue for a game that looks, plays and feels similar or same. That should not be punishable. Even if they did not add much, it is a different game and should be treated as such.
Or we should start banning Mario Kart clones, fighting games like Street Fighter 2 because Capcom didn't allow copies to exist in early history of videogames and so on. You are blind to see the problem if you want to ban this Horizon clone. At least it gives us a similar game to explore, without Sony having the full power over this type of game.
Imagine movies couldn't look or feel the same as other movies before, because it is very similar to it. God i hate this idea of banning and suing similar games, even if they do not add much to it.
There are TONS of awesome RPGs out there to explore. lol you keep talking about creativity but nobody else seems to have that problem other than this team. This game is not creative or interesting, it’s just Horizon at home. Not to mention it hurts the reputation of other Chinese developers at a time when games like Black Myth are starting to blow up and get attention globally.
I tried to explain it multiple times. You just don't understand what I mean.
You'll get Escape from Tarkov vs Escape from Duckov and you'll like it!
Tencent's Arena Breakout is very similar to Tarkov. Like, watching it, you'd just think tarkov got a bit of an update. They don't really care about IP unless it's their own.
No chance Tarkov will ever sue with the amount of IP they rip for the game.
From Software could kill the entire soulslike genre with one lawsuit. Like, just pick the biggest non-From Software soulslike and sue the publisher.
Ah, Capcom U.S.A. Inc. v. Data East Corp. 2: Electric Boogaloo?
The fact that anyone is taking Sony even remotely seriously is absurd.
Why wouldn't they? I'm all for the fuck Sony train when they fuck up (like when they pushed PSN onto PC users and then blocked the sale of their games in countries that aren't supported by PSN) but in this case Tencent is/was blatantly copying the Horizon IP.
Do you have an example of a piece of intellectual property that was blatantly copied?
It's not copying it, it's ripping it off, which isn't illegal. Copying (i.e. copyright infringement) has a specific legal meaning, and it's not being asserted by Sony. Sony is trying to claim that it being a ripoff means customers would be confused into believing it's actually a Horizon game and purchasing it in error, which is stupid.
If Tencent had called this Horizons: Motiram, they'd be 100% in the right. But they are just trying to essentially claim they own the combination of style and theme of "colorful world with tribal humans vs robot animals". That's not how trademark works (this is trademark btw, not copyright, just in case anyone is getting them mixed up).
You're going to tell me people won't think this is Horizon?
That's an image from the official reveal trailer.
Wait wtf? I thought it was just an exaggeration! I get why Sony is mad now.
They won't mistakenly buy the game based on that image.
That was a random image from the trailer. You can stop the trailer at a random point and there's like 90% chance you're going to end up with an image that could easily be from the Horizon series. It's also worth pointing out that the trailer has been removed from all official Lights of Motiram accounts along with a dozen images that looked like they were from the Horizon series.
I will also remind you that you said it would be absurd to take Sony seriously, which is not the same thing as stating "there's no trademark violations here". The latter is literally what the court has to make a decision on. The former is about whether there's any basis to go to court which already means you think you know better than Sony lawyers and, if the court doesn't instantly throw out the case, also better than the legal system. Maybe you are some godlike lawyer who knows better than everyone else, but if you are I think you can understand why I'm calling bullshit on that.
I will also remind you that you said it would be absurd to take Sony seriously, which is not the same thing as stating “there’s no trademark violations here”. The latter is literally what the court has to make a decision on. The former is about whether there’s any basis to go to court which already means you think you know better than Sony lawyers and, if the court doesn’t instantly throw out the case, also better than the legal system. Maybe you are some godlike lawyer who knows better than everyone else, but if you are I think you can understand why I’m calling bullshit on that.
You should check who you're responding to.
Okay? But if you're not defending the other persons statement then what are you doing?
I was/am responding to something you said in your comment, specifically that they were copying HZD.
I think it's entirely possible that Sony wins, though they shouldn't. But it will be about whether this constitutes an infringement on Sony's Horizon trademark, not copyright. I don't think it does, and I do think this amounts to Sony wanting to own the concept, like Nintendo wants to own creature catchers, but it is obviously possible another court would make another bad ruling in the IP space, especially if that means siding with the non-Chinese corporation.
But there's no question about them copying the Horizon series. Whether they're doing it as an IP infringement is up for the courts to decide. I also disagree with the Nintendo comparison because what Nintendo is doing far worse. Even though Nintendo is doing things in response to Palworld they're trying to patent a rather generic mechanics, like summonings or calling mounts (in a specific way) which means their actions won't just affect Palworld but also Cassette Beasts and maybe even Monster Hunter Stories.
Meanwhile Sony want to make sure someone isn't making a not Horizon game. I can't even make a realistic comparison to what couldn't exist if Sony wins because I can't think of another game that that slots exactly into what Horizon is. Fighting against robots is generic, ARC raiders does that. Tribals vs high tech is also pretty generic, that's essentially Avatar. Post-apocalyptic worlds are also generic and you'd have to narrow it down to get specifically Horizon style post-apocalyptic which itself is also not unique as that's essentially the same style The Last of Us uses (just to give the first example that came to mind). It's only after you take all those individual generic components and mash them together do you get Horizon, and the original reveal of Light of Motiram.
Look at this from the other perspective. Why does Light of Motiram need the same kind of tribal aesthetic like the Horizon games? Why does Light of Motiram need robot enemies that imitate animals like Horizon games down to the same visual style of robots? Why does Light of Motiram need the same post-apocalyptic world like the Horizon games down to the same color palette? Each of those things are rather generic concepts and Light of Motiram could've made their own interpretation of each of those concepts. It could've been Na'Vi tribals fighting ARC robots in an TLOU world, but instead in those instances it chose to do exactly what Horizon does.
