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PayPalFrom Andrea Lucco Borlera / Santa Ragione, HORSES has proven to be a highly controversial title with both Epic Games and Steam banning its release. However GOG, Humble Store and itch.io have all decided to keep it. Although, Humble Store briefly decided to stop the release they did actually put it up.
What actually is the game? Their explanation from the press details: "HORSES is a 3-hour first-person horror adventure set over fourteen days on a rural farm, where you work as a summer hand under a cryptic farmer and follow “a few rules” that unravel into increasingly surreal, unsettling tasks. As the sun sets and the facade of tranquility crumbles, you decide whether to keep to the safe path or venture into the farm’s hidden depths. The game blends interactive scenes with live-action intermissions, monochrome visuals, and silent-cinema title cards, with unique gameplay events each day. It's a game about the burden of familial trauma and puritan values, the dynamics of totalitarian power, and the ethics of personal responsibility."
The situation with it is a quite confusing, and to explain it a fair bit the developer has put up a lengthy official statement and FAQ. So far it seems both Valve and Epic Games have refused to actually clarify exactly why they have chosen to ban the game on their stores, making it all the more puzzling. Like many other games and media, it has some subjects in that some may find uncomfortable but there's plenty of games with far worse out there and live and Steam too.
The launch trailer is below:
Direct Link
This is another case of issues with Steam keys too, as Santa Ragione say they were hoping to include their previous game Saturnalia in a game bundle. However, according to them, Valve have placed new rules on key requests too:
Steam has recently begun refusing to grant developers keys for their own games. In the absence of clear rules or guidance, Valve led developers for years to believe they could request keys as needed, building communities and businesses outside Steam while still creating value for Steam users. It now withholds keys from indie developers who do not meet undisclosed sales thresholds. Our multiple requests for keys for our previous game, Saturnalia, were denied without any specific criteria we could work toward to resolve it. As a result, we have been unable to include the game in bundles we had planned to help recoup development costs for our next project, HORSES. This policy shift was never communicated and has been applied retroactively to existing titles. Developers and partners are understandably reluctant to speak publicly or challenge Steam, since as a de facto monopoly it holds disproportionate control over our business.
Santa Ragione believe the removal from Epic Games and Steam, along with the above issue resulting in funding issues, may cause their studio to close. Hopefully it will find success on the other stores where HORSES is now available.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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simplyseven 1 hour ago
That being said, Steam/Epic have the right to refuse to carry the title. They, like the artist in question, should be able to ultimately decide what their messaging and business is.
**PERSONALLY** it feels to me like a bit of an overreach. There are titles so much worse that are regularly given PRIZES by these organizations.
I read their post, and it seems like there is a scene in the game which depicts a young lady being led around as if she were a horse while she is naked. That sounds pretty dark and terrible, with depictions of abusive and coercive behavior at the very least.
[Far Cry 5](https://store.steampowered.com/app/552520/Far_Cry_5/) actively showcases corpses reworked as animatronic jump-scares in a haunted house. (Faith's area)
[FNAF](https://store.steampowered.com/app/319510/Five_Nights_at_Freddys/) The entire FNAF series involves targeted and mutilated children and a dead-cant-stop-him antagonist that certainly feels akin to Nightmare on Elm Street.
Clearly the list could go on and on.
I understand their desire to limit the game, naked horsemasked people don't sound exactly like a game I want to play. But standing on some kind of righteous stance of "It offends our virgin gaze" feels performative.
Petethegoat 56 minutes ago
the steam delisting is stupid but consistent with their policies. the epic delisting is genuinely concerningly dumb, given they apparently did a sudden re-review of the final game.
anyway, i'd recommend it if you're interested. doesn't outstay it's welcome, and definitely has interesting things to say.
Quoting: amataiMy understanding is that the game was banned, at least by Steam, for depiction of children in a sexualized way that was then removed. The game designer dont have my sympaty for using such underhanded marketing technique and I stand by Steam if this is the situation.A source for that would be lovely.
According to the linked statement, the scene you are likely referring to, depicted a scene where a naked woman carried a clothed "young girl" on her shoulders, in a manner similar to someone riding a horse.
According to the developers, the scene was never sexualized (which, considering the subjects of the game, I see no reason not to believe) and it was certainly never used in any marketing, as you suggest, but was in an early - non-public - prototype, only uploaded to Steam to be able to create their "Coming Soon" page.
The finished game does not depict any characters under the age of 20.
Petethegoat 45 minutes ago
Quoting: simplysevenI read their post, and it seems like there is a scene in the game which depicts a young lady being led around as if she were a horse while she is naked. That sounds pretty dark and terrible, with depictions of abusive and coercive behavior at the very least.
not singling you out, but there's been lots of misunderstanding of the content.
the game features censored (pixellated) adult male and female nudity. there's slavery, sexual violence, and a good bit of other nasty stuff. (there's a more thorough content warning on the store pages and when you start up the game)
according to their FAQ, the early build rejected by steam had a scene where a (clothed) girl rode one of the nude horse-slaves, as you would a horse. the final game does not have any children in it.
while it's true that steam or any store does not legally have to host every game, it's worth remembering that steam does host the entire "sex with hitler" franchise, and epic will explicitly make exceptions to allow AO rated games if they feature blockchain/NFTs. :)
The only point is the rejection of the appeal once the illegal scene was removed but I sympathise with Steam not allowing appeal in such case.
simplyseven 8 minutes ago
Quoting: Petethegoatnot singling you out, but there's been lots of misunderstanding of the content.
the game features censored (pixellated) adult male and female nudity. there's slavery, sexual violence, and a good bit of other nasty stuff. (there's a more thorough content warning on the store pages and when you start up the game)
according to their FAQ, the early build rejected by steam had a scene where a (clothed) girl rode one of the nude horse-slaves, as you would a horse. the final game does not have any children in it.
while it's true that steam or any store does not legally have to host every game, it's worth remembering that steam does host the entire "sex with hitler" franchise, and epic will explicitly make exceptions to allow AO rated games if they feature blockchain/NFTs. :)
I don't feel called out. Thank you for the consideration though.
I did see the mention of the earlier builds and the sexual nature of the game. I agree it's an aggressive game with really dark/disturbing themes - I think you and I are on the same page. It's no worse than so many others titles they are happy to carry. Their rejection feels performative.
Liam Dawe 3 minutes ago
Quoting: kuhpunktThose devs sure love the attention.What an odd thing to say. Of course they want attention, every developer wants attention. And they're drawing attention to a problem of the biggest PC store there is (and Epic...) refusing their game.
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