A controversial Italian horror game has been barred from Steam, sparking fresh debate about content moderation on Valve's dominant PC gaming platform. Horses, developed by Santa Ragione, will launch exclusively on alternative storefronts next month after being permanently rejected by Steam.
The Steam Ban That Could Break a Studio
Santa Ragione, the Italian studio behind acclaimed horror titles Mediterranea Inferno and Saturnalia, announced their next project will debut on December 2 exclusively through the Epic Games Store, Humble Store, GOG, and Itch.io. The studio confirmed in their release trailer that Steam has permanently banned Horses from its platform, dealing a significant financial blow to the independent developers.
The developers expressed serious concerns about their ability to recoup the game's development costs without access to Steam's massive user base. The studio invested approximately $100,000 (£75,000) in the project, with half coming from private funding from friends after Valve's rejection made the game appear "unviable" to external publishers.
Content Clash: What Got Horses Banned?
Horses presents as a first-person horror adventure featuring live-action sequences that, according to its creators, "blurs the line between reality and the darkest corners of your imagination." Set on a horse farm over 14 days, players face encounters that "test your obedience, complicity, and restraint" - including scenes with naked individuals wearing horse masks.
Valve rejected the game back in June 2023 when it was midway through development, citing "themes, imagery, or descriptions that we won't distribute" without providing specific examples. In their notification to Santa Ragione, Valve emphasised they would not "distribute content that appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor," regardless of developer intent.
The rejection notice specifically mentioned that setting games in high schools with characters claimed to be legal age would fall into banned territory. Valve declared the ban permanent, stating: "This app has been banned and cannot be reused. Re-submissions of this app, even with modifications, will not be accepted."
Developer's Defence and Financial Fallout
Santa Ragione described Valve's explanation as "deliberately vague and unfounded," maintaining that no scenes or characters in Horses fall within the problematic grey area described. The studio submitted an early, incomplete build specifically to satisfy Steam's request for a playable version to create a Coming Soon page - something they'd never been asked for previously.
"We told Steam we would change or cut any content they considered problematic if they could point to it, but they would not," the developers stated. "The version releasing soon is the game as we intended."
The studio speculates the ban might have been triggered by an "incomplete scene" that has since been altered. The original sequence featured a man and his young daughter visiting the farm, with the latter wanting to ride one of the "horses" - actually human beings wearing horse masks. This involved "an interactive dialogue sequence where the player is leading, by a lead as if they were a horse, a naked adult woman with a young girl on her shoulders."
Santa Ragione emphasised the scene wasn't sexual but acknowledged "the juxtaposition is what might have triggered the flag." They've since changed the character to a twenty-something woman, both to avoid the problematic juxtaposition and because the dialogue worked better with an older character.
Valve defended their decision in a statement to PC Gamer, noting the developers had indicated plans to release Horses "a few months later" in 2023, prompting the early review. "This happens sometimes if content on the store page causes concern that the game itself might not fall within our guidelines," the company explained.
The studio now describes their financial situation as "completely unsustainable," adding: "Without access to Steam, recouping that investment will be very difficult, but the game deserves a chance regardless."
While Steam recently implemented new guidelines restricting adult-only games in response to payment processor rules, Valve confirmed the Horses ban stems from their 2023 decision and appears unlikely to be reversed despite recent publicity.
