Santa Ragione’s horror game Horses just became gaming’s most controversial release of December 2024, getting banned from Steam, Epic Games Store, and Humble within days of each other. The Italian indie studio behind critically acclaimed Saturnalia now faces potential closure after spending years developing a surreal psychological horror experience that platforms claim violates sexual content policies involving minors. The developer vehemently disputes these characterizations, arguing the game contains no sexual content whatsoever and that all characters are explicitly adults. But with every major PC storefront refusing to distribute it, Horses has effectively been erased from existence before most players even knew it existed.
What Actually Happens in Horses
Horses is a first-person psychological horror game where players take a two-week job at a disturbing farm. The twist? The horses are actually humans wearing horse masks, creating an unsettling surreal environment that critiques violence, abuse, and totalitarian power structures. According to Santa Ragione, the game explores themes of familial trauma, puritan values, and personal responsibility through its bizarre premise.
The three-hour experience contains pixelated nudity and four brief sexual sequences, with two happening mostly off-camera. Santa Ragione emphasizes that all animations are stylized and unrealistic, with no visible genitalia or explicit sexual acts. The developer positions the game as social commentary rather than exploitation, using its disturbing imagery to make players uncomfortable in service of larger thematic points about abuse in society.
Key content details according to Santa Ragione:
- All characters are explicitly stated to be over 20 years old
- Any nudity is completely censored through pixelation
- Sexual sequences are brief, censored, and stylized rather than realistic
- The game received PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings through standard questionnaires
- Content serves as critique of abuse rather than promotion of it
- No explicit depictions of animal cruelty despite the human-horse premise
The developer has been remarkably transparent about what’s in the game, publishing detailed FAQs and allowing journalists like IGN to review the full experience. Those reviews confirm the content matches Santa Ragione’s descriptions, making the bans even more confusing for outside observers trying to understand what platforms found objectionable.
The Steam Ban That Started Everything
The controversy began in 2023 when Valve requested an unusual requirement – Santa Ragione had to submit an unfinished but playable build to create a Steam store page. This deviated from standard procedures where developers can create pages before builds are complete. After reviewing the early build, Valve rejected Horses with a statement that would haunt the developer for years: “Regardless of a developer’s intentions with their product, we will not distribute content that appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor.”
Santa Ragione speculates this referred to a scene where a young girl rides on the shoulders of a female “horse” – an action the developer insists was not sexual in any way. In response, they aged the character to a 20-something adult and ensured all characters throughout the game are clearly depicted as adults in their 20s and up. When they requested reconsideration, Valve’s internal content review team discussed extensively but ultimately communicated their final decision would not change.
The timing created a Kafka-esque nightmare for Santa Ragione. They couldn’t know for certain if the shoulder-riding scene actually triggered the ban because Valve wouldn’t confirm specifics. Even after making changes, they weren’t allowed to resubmit. Valve’s one-strike policy meant the game was permanently banned from the platform with the largest PC gaming audience, with no clear path forward.
Valve eventually provided this statement to PC Gamer explaining their position: “Sometimes this can happen when the store page content suggests that a game may not comply with our guidelines. After our team played through the build and evaluated the content, we gave the developer feedback about why we couldn’t ship the game on Steam, consistent with our onboarding rules and guidelines. Shortly thereafter, the developer requested a re-review, and our internal content review team discussed it extensively and communicated our final decision that we would not be able to distribute the game on Steam.”
The Epic Games Last-Minute Betrayal
After the Steam rejection, Santa Ragione pivoted to launching on Epic Games Store and Humble Store on December 2, 2024. Epic had approved the game’s build weeks earlier, and everything seemed on track. Then at 5 PM CET on December 1 – exactly 24 hours before launch – Epic sent an email banning Horses from their platform.
The stated reasons included violations of “inappropriate content” policies regarding explicit sexual conduct, and “hateful or abusive content” standards concerning abuse and animal cruelty. Epic also claimed their internal Age Rating Coalition questionnaire resulted in an Adults Only rating, which disqualifies games from their store. This contradicted Santa Ragione’s earlier submission where they received PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings – both of which are still visible on the game’s Epic storefront page.
Santa Ragione appealed within hours, providing detailed explanations about why their content didn’t violate policies:
- The game contains no explicit or frequent sexual behavior depictions
- All nudity is pixelated and censored
- The brief sexual sequences are stylized and mostly off-camera
- Content critiques abuse rather than promoting it
- There’s no animal cruelty despite the metaphorical premise
Epic rejected the appeal 12 hours later with no additional explanation. The email suggested content could be updated to comply with policies, but provided zero information about what would need changing. For a game launching in 24 hours, extensive changes were impossible anyway. The developer was left scrambling to salvage a launch that had already collapsed.
Humble Completes the Trifecta
With Epic banning Horses 24 hours before launch, Humble Store became the only remaining PC platform distributing the game. The December 2, 2024 launch proceeded on Humble alone, but the reprieve lasted exactly one day. On December 3, Humble delisted Horses from their storefront without public explanation.
According to PC Gamer, Humble initially removed the game because press coverage about the Steam and Epic bans made them nervous. A Humble representative later told the outlet: “It turns out that all the press about Horses being banned on Steam and Epic made the Humble folks nervous, and they freaked out a bit.” After conducting a full review, Humble reinstated Horses, acknowledging the knee-jerk reaction was unwarranted.
This temporary delisting-then-restoration represents the only semi-positive development in the entire saga. At least one major platform eventually recognized that banning a game based on other platforms’ decisions without independent review is problematic. But the damage was done – the launch momentum was destroyed, potential players scared away, and Santa Ragione’s reputation tarnished by association with accusations they vehemently dispute.
Why This Matters Beyond One Game
The Horses controversy exposes fundamental problems with how digital storefronts exercise content moderation power. These platforms act as judge, jury, and executioner with minimal transparency, vague explanations, and no meaningful appeal process. When every major platform bans your game, you’re effectively censored from the PC gaming market regardless of whether the content actually violates laws or policies.
Several troubling patterns emerge from Santa Ragione’s experience:
- Platforms provide vague or no explanation for bans, forcing developers to guess what violated policies
- Appeal processes are perfunctory theater rather than genuine reconsideration
- Platforms refuse to allow resubmission even after content changes addressing suspected issues
- Decisions happen at the worst possible times – during onboarding or 24 hours before launch
- Platforms cite policies broadly without specifying exactly what content crossed lines
- Different platforms reach contradictory conclusions about the same content
- Age rating systems get ignored when platforms want different outcomes
The asymmetrical power dynamic leaves developers completely vulnerable. Steam can permanently ban a game based on an unfinished build without allowing updated submissions. Epic can approve content for weeks then reverse course 24 hours before launch. Humble can delist based purely on bad press from other platforms’ decisions. And developers have no recourse except public complaints that rarely change outcomes.
The Chilling Effect on Artistic Expression
Horror games frequently push boundaries exploring uncomfortable themes. That’s the entire point of the genre – making players confront disturbing ideas in controlled environments. When platforms ban games for being too disturbing without clear standards, they create a chilling effect where developers self-censor rather than risk years of work getting deleted before launch.
Santa Ragione faces potential studio closure because Horses represented years of development investment that generated no revenue after platform bans. Future developers will remember this case and think twice about exploring controversial themes, even when handled tastefully with legitimate artistic intent. The industry loses creative diversity because platforms wield unchecked gatekeeping power.
The fact that journalistic reviews confirm Santa Ragione’s content descriptions makes the bans even more unjustifiable. If the game contained illegal content or clear policy violations, reviewers would have reported it. Instead, they describe exactly what the developer claimed – a disturbing but thoughtful horror experience using surreal imagery for thematic purposes.
What Happens Next
Horses remains available exclusively on Humble Store after being reinstated. This single-platform distribution severely limits the game’s commercial potential compared to simultaneous Steam, Epic, and Humble releases. Many PC gamers exclusively use Steam, and the game’s absence from the dominant platform essentially guarantees poor sales relative to development costs.
Santa Ragione continues advocating for transparency in platform moderation. Their detailed blog posts documenting the timeline and communications serve as cautionary tales for other indie developers about the arbitrary nature of content review processes. The studio has also explored alternative distribution methods including direct sales and niche platforms that may accept controversial content.
The broader conversation about platform power continues. The Horses situation illustrates why some developers and advocates push for regulation requiring transparent content policies, clear appeal processes, and justification for bans. When private platforms control access to entire markets, their moderation decisions carry quasi-governmental power without constitutional protections or due process.
FAQs
Why was Horses banned from Steam?
Valve stated that Horses contained content that appeared to depict sexual conduct involving a minor. Santa Ragione believes this referred to a scene where a child rode on an adult’s shoulders, which they insist was not sexual. The developer aged the character to an adult but Valve wouldn’t allow resubmission.
Did Epic Games ban Horses before or after launch?
Epic Games banned Horses exactly 24 hours before its scheduled December 2, 2024 launch, despite having approved the game’s build weeks earlier. The last-minute ban citing inappropriate content and an Adults Only rating left the developer scrambling to salvage the release.
Can you still buy Horses anywhere?
Yes, Horses is available on Humble Store after being temporarily delisted and then reinstated. Humble initially removed the game due to nervousness about Steam and Epic bans but restored it after conducting a full content review. It’s not available on Steam or Epic Games Store.
What is Horses actually about?
Horses is a first-person psychological horror game where players work at a farm where humans wear horse masks. The three-hour experience explores themes of familial trauma, puritan values, totalitarian power, and personal responsibility through disturbing surreal imagery. All characters are adults over 20.
Does Horses contain illegal content?
According to Santa Ragione and journalists who reviewed the game, no. All characters are explicitly adults, nudity is pixelated, sexual content is brief and censored, and the game received standard PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings. The developer positions it as social critique of abuse rather than promotion.
Who developed Horses?
Horses was developed by Santa Ragione, an Italian indie studio known for the critically acclaimed horror game Saturnalia. The studio faces potential closure after years of development on Horses generated no revenue due to platform bans limiting distribution.
Why did Humble delist then restore Horses?
Humble initially delisted Horses on December 3 because press coverage about Steam and Epic bans made them nervous. After conducting a full independent content review, Humble reinstated the game, acknowledging their knee-jerk reaction was unwarranted.
Conclusion
The Horses controversy represents everything broken about how digital platforms moderate content. A legitimate indie horror game with thoughtful thematic intentions got systematically banned from the PC gaming market through opaque processes offering no meaningful appeal or reconsideration. Santa Ragione did everything right – they created detailed content descriptions, received standard age ratings, allowed press reviews, and modified content in response to suspected concerns. None of it mattered because platforms wield unchecked power to destroy years of development work with vague justifications and no accountability. The fact that Humble eventually reinstated the game after independent review proves the Steam and Epic bans weren’t justified by actual policy violations or illegal content. They were arbitrary decisions made by different reviewers applying subjective standards inconsistently. For Santa Ragione, this distinction means little – the damage is done, the launch momentum destroyed, and the studio’s financial future imperiled. For the broader gaming industry, Horses serves as a chilling reminder that artistic expression in games remains vulnerable to platform gatekeepers who can erase your work on a whim. Until digital storefronts implement transparent policies, clear appeals processes, and accountability for moderation decisions, independent developers will continue facing this existential threat through no fault of their own.