Steam Said No First—Now Epic and Humble Also Drop Controversial Horror Game Horses
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Steam, Epic Games, and now even Humble have all backed out of publishing the controversial horror game Horses from developer Santa Ragione.
The game officially released on December 2, but its path to launch has been anything but smooth. Steam never approved it in the first place, despite multiple attempts dating back to 2023. According to the studio, Valve rejected the game repeatedly and never clearly detailed what rule it supposedly violated. Instead, Santa Ragione says Steam referenced broad onboarding documentation and a line about “sexual conduct involving a minor,” though the studio maintains no such content exists in the final game.
We then saw something similar happen on the Epic Games Store—only worse in timing. Epic notified Santa Ragione just 24 hours before release that it would not distribute Horses, despite having previously approved its launch build weeks in advance. The email from Epic to IGN cited violations of the store’s “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, Epic said the game even received an Adults Only (AO) rating through the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), which automatically disqualifies it from the store.
"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."
Santa Ragione disputes this result. The studio shared that its own IARC submission returned an ESRB M (Mature) rating and PEGI 18, which matches what was publicly displayed on Epic’s own store page. Even more confusing, when the team appealed Epic’s ban, the decision was denied in just 12 hours, without explanation about what scenes or elements were considered inappropriate.
The situation only escalated from there. Humble—initially set to sell the game as well—delisted it shortly after launch before later restoring it. According to reporting by IGN, Humble temporarily removed the listing to "re-evaluate it amid the controversy."
So what exactly is Horses? It’s a first-person narrative horror experience about a young man spending his summer working on a remote farm. The twist is that the farm’s “horses” are actually naked adult humans forced to wear horse masks. The game uses heavy themes—slavery, abuse, psychological manipulation—to make players uncomfortable on purpose. Santa Ragione has repeatedly emphasized that Horses is a critique of violence and exploitation, not a game designed to sexualize or celebrate the disturbing imagery it contains. All nudity in the game is censored with pixelation, and the studio says only a handful of stylized, non-explicit scenes occur, most of them off-camera.
Still, the bans kept coming. According to Santa Ragione’s statements, Steam’s decision may have stemmed from an early demo sent for review, which included a rough placeholder scene featuring a child riding on the shoulders of one of the naked human “horses.” That character was later changed to a fully grown woman, yet the studio says Steam never allowed a resubmission or re-review.
Financially, the impact is severe. Santa Ragione has already shared that around $100,000 went into development, and losing access to the world’s largest PC storefront puts the studio at risk of shutting down. The company openly stated that most publishers won’t support a game banned on Steam, making recovery even harder.
Despite all this, Horses is still accessible. It remains available on GOG and itch.io, both of which have publicly expressed support for the game. GOG even stated that players should have the freedom to choose what experiences appeal to them.