Epic and Steam banned it but HORSES is out now on other stores

From 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:

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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.

It's not entirely clear what recent rule change they mean, as Valve publicly changed the rules way back in 2023 where you can see what changed via SteamDB to place certain limits.

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.