It may have been originally created in a pitch to Sony for a mainline Horizon entry, but ultimately this was Tencent’s from-the-ground-up creation. If the game was a cheap ripoff, then Sony should’ve let the game flop; but if it ended up being something very special, then that’s good for the industry.

Why support a business stripping consumers of the option to play the game for themselves?

Throwing Digimon, Sonic and Astrobot in this is crazy lol. These are all original games with very distinct aesthetics and flavours to a broader genre. No one could mistake Sonic or Astrobot for Mario. Or Digimon for pokemon... Tecent straight of ripped Sonys IP top to bottom from what we can see, Palworld is the only fair example and it at least made very clear distinction in its gameplay & other areas of the world and approach.

We love competition, we don't need straight up copy cats though, its a waste of resources from Tecents side... I do hope their work doesn't go to waste though and the game is just being reworked to be less of an aesthetic rip off. 

I never understood why people think Palword is a Pokemon rip off. The game plays like Ark, not Pokemon. Visuals are questionable, but the gameplay is absolutely nothing like Pokemon, also it is better than Pokemon.

Swap the assets. Make it cel shaded. Make the protagonist cartoony looking animals. Problem solved.

They might still change it, doesn't say it's outright cancelled.

https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/12/18/sony-resolved-its-conflict-with-tencent-the-game-light-of-motiram-has-been-removed-from-stores

However, there’s another explanation for Light of Motiram disappearing from the stores. At the beginning of December, it became known that Tencent agreed to stop promoting the game during the proceedings with Sony. Nevertheless, it remains unclear why Light of Motiram was only removed from Steam and the Epic Games Store now that the conflict has been resolved.

The problem is not making a similar game, it's making a similar game with similar visuals / aesthetic.

Tencent claimed that Light of Motiram merely used established ideas and imagery.



If Tencent would have won that 'battle', the door for AI generated clones will be wide open.

Yeah I want to play more Horizon as well, but this is not the way.

Yeah, I was pretty much in support of Palworld beyond a few creatures looking like they may have potentially ripped/copied whole models lol. And again, no one needs that kind of unoriginality. You've made a whole game which is the hardest bit, just try to deviate a bit from your inspiration on the art. 

Maybe to clarify: I’m not saying that those games are on the same tier of sticking close to the source material (e.g. Sonic and Astro were both designed with Mario as the source in mind, but took a veeeery new and creative approach to the formula), but that they are instances of competition borrowing from source material. (But I will edit that first line out b/c o/w my comment won’t be taken seriously…)

That said: These are fair points you make. I can agree with that, no need for “copy cats” nor anything of the sort. Though again, I don’t think Sony should’ve shot it down. If it really was a rip off, just let it flop. That’s my whole point, and it seems you agree.

As someone pointed out, the game could still release using a different visual / art identity.

Sony is obviously stepping in because

1. The game visually looks like their IP after they rejected Tencent's proposal not once, but at least twice.

2. Sony has their own Horizon MP game coming out, and the visual language being pretty much Horizon conflates the IP's already existing strength to a new IP that is completely unrelated.

3. Sony already has a Horizon PC/ mobile partnership with NetEase. Stepping in here isn't just about their own IP property, it's about the business relationship they have with another studio making an actual Horizon licensed title.

It's not about whether the game is good or not, it's about how it affects their own IP and their relationship with another studio. 

Tencent should just change the visual language. It's what they should've done in the first place.

I completely agree. The only "harm" that could come from the latter is it taking away some interest from Horizon if it surpasses that in quality but I don't care a single iota about that. The main thing is millions of people would be getting to enjoy a new video game which is something I genuinely can't understand having a problem with. A free market approach is the ideal when it comes to things like this.