HORSES is a psychological horror game developed and published by Santa Ragione, makers of Saturnalia, Mediterranea Inferno and The Milky Way Prince. We gave it a glowing preview just last month, commending its willingness to provoke intense emotions and being unafraid to throw deep psychological punches in the direction of its audience. For anyone who’s played Santa Ragione’s catalogue of video games, this will come as little surprise, as the studio is largely built on its talent for storytelling in uncomfortable territory.
Sadly, that’s led to the current predicament HORSES finds itself in. The game now has a release date of December 2nd, it’ll cost £4.99 and most noticeably, it’ll be launching on Epic Games Store, GOG, Itch.io and Humble Store, but not Steam. If you know much about the PC marketplace, you’ll know just how seismic that situation is for any title, nevermind a small indie studio led one.
The reason for this, as explained by Santa Ragione themselves, is a blanket ban issued out by Steam in relation to perceived sexually explicit content involving a minor. The developers go on to clarify that their game does not contain such content, nor any such scenes that could fall into a grey area related to it. You can find out more from a detailed FAQ they’ve put together using the link below, which explores much more about the ban:
https://www.horses.wtf/BannedFromSteam
What’s especially noticeable from this scenario is a lack of transparency and open dialogue shown by Steam to address the issue. If, as the developers suggest, they’ve been denied the opportunity to raise appeals and offers to address supposedly ban-worthy content were ignored, it creates a problematic landscape. These kinds of arbitrary bans raise potential risks of Steam’s policies barring any kind of artistic exploration of difficult subject matter, without needing to evidence their reasoning.
It should be noted that from the FAQ itself, the ban for HORSES pre-dates the more recent issues that arose following payment providers threatening to withdraw their services to organisations that hosted adult content. However, this example does provide further evidence of a perceived clampdown on taboo subjects being featured in media, and people’s freedom of expression to explore those themes. This is especially pertinent given that HORSES has been declared to not have any minors featured in the game at all, yet has still been banned on this premise.
For small development teams, it’s a challenging time to say the least. Across the medium, we’re saying layoffs on a scale unseen before, as generative AI is being pushed to replace human talent and creativity. Given the massive ramifications that Steam’s banning policy (owing to its dominant position in the PC market) can have for an indie studio like Santa Ragione, it’s another demonstration of the pitfalls that face those who want to try to realise their artistic visions through human interactivity, without succumbing to financial turmoil.
In general, Steam is considered to be an incredibly consumer-friendly company, one which has benefitted massively from listening to and catering to its core audience. Everyone would also agree, that being watchful and proactive in targeting and banning illegal or immoral content is something we all would expect and want to see happen. However, this, like many other probable examples, shows what can happen when policies are left open-ended and intentionally vague, allowing companies to execute entire projects and teams in the blink of an eye, with next-to-no justification.
The question will inevitably pivot to: “what will happen next?”. For studios like Santa Ragione, the answer is unfortunately pointing one way: closures. The most saddening aspect of this is that indie studios are the main drivers of creativity and innovation in the video game space (see the Game of The Year contenders for 2025 for a sure example of this), and the threat of a no-contest ban exponentially increases risk, which in turn leads to risk-averse decisions, meaning we’d potentially see fewer, riskier projects. Of course, it’s unlikely to impact the AAA, higher budget experiences, who can more attainably contest their cases without the fear of the entire studio closing.
Which brings this all to a potential sad reality unfolding – indie studios bearing the brunt of overzealous rules for daring to explore difficult topics and sensitive material. Some of our favourite games here at Finger Guns would even potentially fall into trouble – What Remains of Edith Finch, Life is Strange, Silent Hill – just for a couple of examples, though the latter is of course a AAA offering. As is the case with HORSES, half of the development cost was fronted by the team themselves, effectively creating an unsustainable future for teams who don’t have the backing of large publishers.
The industry will continue to move in the direction it chooses, largely wherever the profit is most reapable. However, stories like these are essential to bring out into the open and discuss. Video games, like movies, paintings, music and books, are an art form. Art is, through its very existence, meant to be inherently emotional, confronting, shocking and perspective-changing. Blanket rules and bans that can be interpreted in order to remove any form of potentially offensive or confronting media is problematic at best, and punishing for the overall health of the industry at worst.
It points to a future where games that dare to push onto intensive themes and subject matter may simply no longer exist, or will be forced into smaller spaces. The medium could become safe, clinical, surgical in its precision to ensure nobody is offended, but nobody is interested either. How would PT have ever seen the light of the day with a literal fetus in the bathroom sink? Metal Gear Solid V depicting child soldiers? Konami would have had the influence and finances to hold its own against such a decision, HORSES and Santa Ragione unfortunately do not.
Difficult themes are not meant to be experienced by everyone, we all have the freedom to choose what media we consume or don’t, but removing the choice entirely on arbitrary grounds without full disclosure or ability to make edits is where the issue really unfolds.
Despite the potential pitfalls, including the closing of the studio entirely, Santa Ragione have committed to seeing HORSES through its development and release, with or without Steam. If you are interested in the game and wish to support the team through what is likely to be a trying time, you can find the various links to HORSES here:
- Epic Games Store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/horses-004d87
- Humble Store: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/horses
- GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/game/horses
- Itch.io: https://santaragione.itch.io/horses
HORSES will be available on PC from December 2nd.
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