Saturnalia developer Santa Ragione’s first-person narrative horror Horses has received a last-minute ban from the Epic Games Store. Epic was one of several storefronts confirmed to have approved a build for release when news of Horses’ ban from Steam emerged, but it has now reversed its decision, citing what Santa Ragione calls “broad and demonstrably incorrect claims”.
Horses unfolds across 14 days on a farm where humans are held captive as “horses”, using the imagery to explore what Santa Ragione describes as “the burden of familial trauma and puritan values, the dynamics of totalitarian power, and the ethics of personal responsibility”. Last week, the studio revealed Steam had refused to distribute Horses – citing concerns around an early, unfinished build, and declining to reappraise the game once it was finished. Despite Valve’s rejection, Horses was approved for distribution on all other major PC storefronts, but Epic has now made an eleventh hour reversal.
In an FAQ discussing the U-turn on its website, Santa Ragione says it received notification from Epic 24 hours before Horses’ release, the storefront explaining it would no longer distribute the game after its “review found violations of the Epic Games Store Content Guidelines”. Epic’s email specifically referenced its policies around “inappropriate content” and “hateful or abusive content” – saying Horses contravenes guidelines prohibiting content that “promotes abuse and animal abuse”, that “contains explicit or frequent depictions of sexual behaviour or [that is] not appropriately labeled, rated, or age-gated”. On this latter point, Epic said it had filled out an IARC Questionnaire based on the content it reviewed, receiving an Adult Only (AO) rating – a rating category it does not distribute on its storefront.
Epic noted Santa Ragione had several options, including updating Horses to ensure compliance and resubmitting it for review. However, the studio says Epic did not specifically highlight the content it had found objectionable, nor would it have been possible to make significant changes so close to launch.
Instead, Santa Ragione chose to immediately appeal Epic’s decision, addressing each of the storefront’s concerns. It noted the “four brief” sex scenes featured in Horses – two occurring “mainly off camera” – are censored using pixellation, use “stylised and unrealistic” animations, and do not involve involve genitalia. As to Epic’s other point, Santa Ragione stressed Horses “does not promote abuse (including animal abuse)” and is rather a “strong critique of violence and abuse in general.” It also reiterated that its own IARC submission – filed “more than five weeks” before release – resulted in PEGI 18 and ESRB M ratings, as displayed on Epic’s Horses page.
Santa Ragione says it then received an automated response from Epic 12 hours later rejecting its appeal, with the storefront insisting it had determined its original decision was “appropriately applied and will remain in place”. It remains unclear what prompted Epic’s apparent decision to instigate a last-minute re-review of Horses; Santa Ragione insists the storefront had received and reviewed a build two months ago, with its final achievements-ready build being approved for release 18 days prior to launch. Eurogamer has contacted Epic for comment on the story.
Horses continues to be available via GOG and Itch.io, where it costs £4.99/$4.99. Epic’s decision has temporarily impacted its availability on Humble, but Santa Ragione says it’s received confirmation from Humble that it will still be distributing the game – although a build is yet to go live.
If you’re curious about Horses itself, I reviewed it earlier this week ahead of launch, awarding it four out of five stars and calling it a “rallying cry against hypocrisy, institutional or otherwise, and one that feels particularly potent right now, as puritanism and anti-intellectualism continue to exert themselves”.
