Success and failure can look identical in indie game development. Santa Ragione announced on December 17, 2025, that its controversial horror game Horses sold over 18,000 copies in two weeks and generated approximately $65,000 in net revenue through GOG, Humble, and Itch.io. That was enough to pay back development loans and settle royalties owed to creator Andrea Lucco Borlera. But it’s not enough to fund a new game, and the studio that created acclaimed titles like Saturnalia and Mediterranea Inferno faces an uncertain future because Steam and Epic Games Store banned Horses without clear explanation.
What Horses Is About
Horses follows a young man who travels to a rural farm for summer work, only to discover the farm’s so-called horses are actually naked humans with horse masks forcibly attached over their heads. The game explores themes of complicity and what horrors people are willing to participate in or ignore, examining how the farmer and eventually the protagonist treat and perpetuate the enslavement of these people. It’s disturbing, provocative, and deliberately uncomfortable, exactly the kind of artistic horror experience that makes some players think deeply and others demand it be removed from existence.
The game contains violence and sexual content, but nothing unprecedented for Steam’s catalog, which hosts far more explicit content regularly. IGN gave Horses a 7 out of 10, calling it an affecting first-person horror game that delivers a harrowing story you won’t forget despite some repetitive tasks and signposting issues. Critical response has been generally favorable from outlets and players who experienced it, with most praising its willingness to tackle difficult subject matter through interactive storytelling.
The Steam Ban That Started Everything
Santa Ragione submitted an in-progress prototype to Steam two years ago for approval. Valve rejected it without specific explanation, offering only vague suggestions about potential issues but no concrete details or opportunity to appeal. The studio believes Valve objected to a scene in the earlier build where a child rode one of the naked horses by sitting on their shoulders. That character was aged up to an adult in the final version, and no minors appear in the released game whatsoever.
Valve never communicated whether this specific change would resolve their concerns. Steam’s moderation policies remain deliberately opaque, with developers frequently complaining about inconsistent enforcement and lack of transparency. Games with far more explicit sexual content, extreme violence, and controversial themes remain available on Steam while Horses got permanently banned based on an outdated prototype. Santa Ragione found itself locked out of the dominant PC gaming storefront without recourse or clear path to appeal.
The Epic Betrayal
With Steam unavailable, Santa Ragione put its hopes into Epic Games Store alongside smaller platforms like GOG and Humble. Epic initially approved the game and scheduled it for release. Then, approximately 24 hours before launch, Epic reversed course and banned Horses, citing violations of policies on inappropriate content and hateful or abusive content. This last-minute ban caused immediate financial crisis for Santa Ragione, which had already committed resources to marketing and distribution planning based on Epic’s approval.
The Delayed Development Costs
The Steam ban two years before launch created a prolonged scramble for funding that forced Santa Ragione to take out loans to finish development. What should have been straightforward became an extended nightmare of seeking alternative distribution, rewriting launch plans, and trying to complete the game without certainty it could reach audiences. Team members had to take other jobs during this period, fragmenting the studio and creating opportunity costs that persist even after Horses’ successful launch on remaining platforms.
Producer Pietro Righi Riva told Polygon that public outcry and support made a huge difference in driving sales, but even with that boost, the numbers wouldn’t be enough to save the studio as originally hoped. The money covers obligations created by prolonged end-of-development costs, but doesn’t provide runway to begin a new project. The team must continue taking outside work, and reuniting everyone for a future game won’t be easy even if sales remain steady enough to eventually fund a prototype.
Why Steam Matters So Much
Santa Ragione emphasized that while the two-week launch compared favorably to their past Steam releases, Steam’s economics rely heavily on multi-year long-tail sales and bundle distribution, which has been restricted for lower-selling titles recently. A strong result on smaller storefronts doesn’t indicate what a full Steam release could have achieved. Steam commands roughly 70 percent of the PC gaming market. Being banned from Steam essentially guarantees most potential customers will never see your game exists.
Even successful launches on alternative storefronts pale compared to moderate Steam performance. The visibility, discoverability, user reviews, community features, and sheer audience size of Steam create conditions where games can find audiences organically over years. GOG, Humble, and Itch.io offer valuable alternatives but lack the scale to sustain most developers long-term. For PC-only releases, Steam ban often equals commercial death sentence regardless of game quality or critical reception.
The Censorship Debate
Both bans prompted waves of criticism from developers and players calling out the decisions as censorship and hypocrisy. Steam in particular hosts games with extreme sexual content, graphic violence, and controversial themes that make Horses look tame by comparison. Visual novels with explicit sexual content thrive on Steam. Horror games depicting torture and murder are commonplace. Yet Horses got banned for exploring complicity and enslavement through disturbing but thematically justified imagery.
Santa Ragione’s statement emphasized the broader issue beyond their specific case, noting the need for clearer rules, transparent processes, and meaningful accountability from near-monopolistic distribution platforms. For every case like Horses that becomes visible, many more games are quietly banned, delisted, or trapped in indefinite review for unclear reasons. Developers remain too worried about retaliation or future approval to speak publicly, creating chilling effects on creative expression.
The Studio’s Previous Success
This outcome feels particularly tragic given Santa Ragione’s track record. Mediterranea Inferno, published by Santa Ragione from developer Eyeguys, won Excellence in Narrative at the 2024 Independent Games Festival plus nominations for Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Nuovo Award. Saturnalia, developed in-house and released in 2022, received generally positive reviews and remains available on both Steam and Epic without issue. Both games explore dark themes and mature content, yet faced no distribution problems.
Santa Ragione built reputation as one of the world’s best indie publishers, supporting distinctive artistic visions and experimental storytelling. The studio’s closure or fragmentation represents real loss for the industry beyond just the people directly affected. These are the publishers that take risks on weird, challenging, uncomfortable games that push boundaries and make people think. Losing them means fewer weird games get made, period.
What Happens Next
Santa Ragione hopes sustained sales might eventually generate enough revenue to fund a new prototype, but the studio acknowledges reuniting the now-scattered team won’t be easy. Team members have moved on to other projects and jobs, creating commitments that can’t simply be dropped if funding suddenly materializes. The relationships, creative chemistry, and shared vision that made Santa Ragione special may be impossible to recreate even with money.
Meanwhile, Horses remains available on GOG, Humble, and Itch.io for players interested in supporting the studio and experiencing what the controversy is about. The game’s sales prove audiences exist for challenging, provocative horror when given the chance to find it. But discoverability on smaller storefronts remains the insurmountable challenge. Without Steam’s visibility engine, most potential players will never know Horses exists no matter how good it is or how many awards it wins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy Horses?
The game is available on GOG, Humble Store, and Itch.io. It’s not available on Steam or Epic Games Store due to bans from both platforms.
Why was Horses banned from Steam?
Valve never provided specific reasons. Santa Ragione believes Valve objected to a scene in an earlier prototype featuring a child, though that was removed from the final game. No appeal process was offered.
Why did Epic ban Horses?
Epic cited violations of policies on inappropriate content and hateful or abusive content approximately 24 hours before launch, after initially approving the game for release.
How much did Horses make?
Approximately $65,000 in net revenue from 18,000 copies sold in the first two weeks, enough to pay back development loans but not enough to fund a new game.
Is Santa Ragione closing?
The studio’s future is uncertain. Team members have taken other jobs and projects. They may fund a new prototype if sales remain steady, but reuniting the team will be difficult.
What other games has Santa Ragione made?
They developed Saturnalia and published Mediterranea Inferno, which won Excellence in Narrative at the 2024 Independent Games Festival. Both remain available on Steam.
Is Horses worth playing?
IGN gave it 7 out of 10, calling it an affecting horror experience with a harrowing story. Critical reception has been generally favorable for players interested in challenging, thematic horror.
Will Horses ever come to Steam?
Unlikely. Valve has shown no indication of reconsidering the ban, and there’s no formal appeal process for developers to challenge moderation decisions.
The Real Cost of Platform Power
Horses’ story illustrates the impossible situation facing indie developers when platforms wield absolute power without accountability. Santa Ragione did everything right. They created critically acclaimed games, built strong reputation, worked with talented creators, and delivered a finished product that reviewers and players praised. Yet one opaque moderation decision from Valve two years before launch set off a cascade that may destroy the studio entirely. The 18,000 sales represent both vindication and tragedy. Vindication that audiences wanted this game when given access. Tragedy that it wasn’t nearly enough because the platforms that control access to most players chose to shut them out. This isn’t about whether Horses deserved to exist or whether its content crossed lines. It’s about power concentration creating situations where entire studios live or die based on arbitrary, unexplained decisions from monopolistic platforms with zero obligation to justify themselves. Santa Ragione is grateful for the journalists covering these cases and promises to continue advocating for transparency, but gratitude doesn’t pay rent or fund new games. Sometimes surviving isn’t the same as thriving, and breaking even feels like failure when you put years of your life into creating something meaningful. That’s the real horror story here, and it has nothing to do with horses.