Horses shoots to the top of the charts on GOG and Itch.io. But what’s really behind the title that was too extreme for Valve and Epic?
It was supposed to be a normal release for Italian developer Santa Ragione, which has made a name for itself in the past with artistically ambitious titles such as Saturnalia and MirrorMoon EP. But the launch of the new project Horses turned into a real thriller at the end of November.
On November 25, the studio announced that Horses had been banned from Steam. Just one week later, the Epic Games Store followed suit and also removed the title from its range shortly before the planned release date of December 2.
The consequence of these measures was predictable: Horses immediately shot to the top of the sales charts on GOG and itch.io. But why did the major store operators react so drastically?
The reasons given by Valve and Epic
Statements made by the platform operators suggest that the decision against Horses was not made spontaneously. In an interview with the US magazine PC Gamer, Valve explained that the title had already been reviewed in 2023.
“After our team played through the build and reviewed the content, we provided feedback to the developer on why we couldn’t release the game on Steam, in line with our onboarding rules and guidelines,” the statement said. The developer requested a re-review, but after extensive internal discussion, Valve stood by its decision to refuse distribution.
Epic Games also cites internal guidelines. According to a report by IGN the store operator informed the developers that Horses violated the guidelines on “inappropriate content” and “hateful or abusive content.” However, Santa Ragione criticizes the fact that they were not given any specific scenes or content that led to this decision.
What kind of game is Horses?
If you’re wondering what kind of content could lead to such an exclusion, it’s worth taking a look at the disturbing scenario. You take on the role of a young Italian who is supposed to spend the summer working on a farm. It quickly becomes clear that this is no normal farm.
The “horses” of the title are not animals, but naked people who appear to wear permanently attached horse masks. Even the farm’s “dog” is a masked human. Your task in the game consists of a mixture of monotonous, almost meditative activities and grotesque horror. You chop wood, harvest vegetables, and feed the “animals.”
However, these everyday tasks are interrupted by deeply disturbing moments, such as when you have to help the farmer bury a corpse or witness abuse.
The game itself does not skimp on warnings: At the start of the game, topics such as physical and psychological violence, slavery, torture, domestic violence, and sexual assault are listed.
Arthouse horror instead of splatter orgy
Despite the harsh themes, players who have already played the title report that Horses is actually less explicit than the wave of bans would suggest. The graphic style is deliberately crude, reminiscent of old silent films or arthouse cinema. Explicit details are often obscured by blurring or simple PS1-style graphics.
If you want to play Horses, don’t expect classic gaming fun:
It is an approximately three-hour, unwieldy experiment about abuse of power and dehumanization. It seems only logical that the game has been released without much fanfare: a game that is deliberately not fun in order to send a message is ill-suited for viral Twitch clips or long discussions in the schoolyard.
