Horses, a disturbing indie horror game, was set to launch yesterday on several digital storefronts, but in the past week, many of those retailers have refused to list it, including Steam, the Epic Games Store, and most recently, the Humble Store. It’s a move that has sparked controversy online, with many decrying it as unjust censorship of the game’s adult themes. But what, exactly, is in this game that makes it so offensive? Each platform has released its own statement, but in an interview with IGN, Pietro Righi Riva, co-founder of Horses developer Santa Ragione, explained what he thinks happened.
The titular horses are not, in fact horses – the game’s primary disturbing element is that the farm the player visits has a population of enslaved, nude humans wearing horse masks. The controversy is not solely related to the nudity or enslavement, but about a character’s young daughter and her proximity to the “horses.”
“The daughter wants to ride one of the horses (in the game the ‘horses’ are humans wearing a horse mask) and gets to pick which one,” Riva told IGN. “What followed was an interactive dialogue sequence where the player is leading, by a lead as if they were a horse, a naked adult woman with a young girl on her shoulders. The scene is not sexual in any way, but it is possible that the juxtaposition is what triggered the flag.”
Horses was rejected by Steam when it was submitted for review in 2023. Riva claims Steam never gave him a specific moment to explain the rejection, but the rejection message included a line that read, “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.” Assuming the issue was with the daughter character, they raised her age.
“We have since changed the character in the scene to be a twenty-something woman, both to avoid the juxtaposition and more importantly because the dialogue delivered in that scene, which deals with the societal structure in the world of Horses, works much better when delivered by an older character,” Riva’s statement continues. Despite the adjustment, Steam has not changed course. Reportedly, even after repeated contact between Riva and various representatives at Steam, he hasn’t even received confirmation of what scene or element of the game caused the ban in the first place.
Yesterday, the ban expanded when the Epic Games Store, which had been set to sell Horses, reversed course at the last minute. Despite reportedly approving the game earlier in the year, the game was rejected 24 hours before its planned launch. The game has a store page and everything, and at the time of writing, Horses is still listed as “coming soon.” Developer Santa Ragione received the following statement from the Epic Games Store, and a representative from Epic later confirmed to IGN that the statement was accurate:
We are unable to distribute Horses on the Epic Games Store because our review found violations of the Epic Games Store Content Guidelines, specifically the ‘Inappropriate Content’ and ‘Hateful or Abusive Content’ policies. The ‘Inappropriate Content’ policy prohibits content which “contains explicit or frequent depictions of sexual behavior or not appropriately labeled, rated, or age-gated.” The ‘Hateful or Abusive Content’ policy prohibits content that promotes abuse and animal abuse. This content is prohibited by our Guidelines and cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store. Additionally, when we [Epic] filled out the IARC Questionnaire based on the content that we reviewed, it received an Adult Only (AO) rating. Products with AO ratings cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store (the only exception is for products in cases where an AO rating was applied solely due to the usage of blockchain or NFT technology). You have some options on how to move forward: 1. You can make updates to your product to ensure compliance and resubmit it for review. 2. If you believe we made a mistake, you also have the ability to appeal this decision. You can appeal by replying to this email or creating a private discussion on our Developer Support site. Select “Epic Games Store” as the topic. 3. You cannot change the title or content to repurpose it for another game. If you choose not to move forward, we’ll refund your submission fee for this product.
Riva has since claimed that the ban is more likely due to the increased media attention following the news that Steam would not be listing the game, but Epic has not confirmed this fact. Riva has also said that the studio filled out its own IARC questionnaire – a form which evaluates the rating of your game for PEGI, ESRB, and other video game content rating authorities – and unlike Epic’s AO rating, Santa Ragione saw its game marked as rated M for Mature.
As of today, IGN reports the Humble Store has banned the game as well, and accessing the link the game was previously listed at, humblebundle.com/store/horses, prompts an error message in the right corner of the screen that reads, “HORSES is no longer available for purchase.” PC Gamer reports that a representative from Santa Ragione confirmed the game’s removal, but at the time of writing, has not received a response from Humble.
Horses is still available on itch.io and GOG. It probably goes without saying, but the game contains adult and potentially objectionable content, so proceed to those links with caution. It’s currently one of the best-selling games on GOG, as its bans have shone a spotlight on it that it might not have otherwise received.
Sources: IGN [1, 2], PC Gamer
