Italian indie studio Santa Ragione is dealing with closure after its upcoming horror title, Horses, was refused entry onto Steam.
The studio will launch Horses on December 2, 2025, on the Epic Video games Retailer, GOG, Itch.io, and Humble Retailer for $4.99—however shall be unable to distribute the title on Steam after platform operator Valve claimed it options “themes, imagery, or descriptions” that it’ll not publish.
Santa Ragione has put aside funds to assist Horses for six months post-launch, however will doubtless wind down operations afterwards except the title recoups its growth prices. It feels that situation is unlikely “with out entry to greater than 75 % of the PC gaming market.”
“Steam’s refusal eliminated our main path to succeed in gamers on PC, with no method to enchantment and no clear path to compliance, as detailed in our FAQ,” reads a press launch issued by the studio.
“Steam has additionally stopped granting developer keys to indies that don’t meet undisclosed gross sales thresholds, limiting third-party gross sales and retroactively affecting our catalogue. In a de facto monopoly, opaque selections like these can shortly decide a small studio’s survival.”
Horses is billed as an “enigmatic first particular person horror journey that blurs the road between actuality and the darkest corners of your creativeness.” The surreal title permits gamers to mount and trip bare people on a farm the place they need to full unusual and unsettling duties.
“Lawful works shouldn’t be made unreachable”
Santa Ragione has been upfront concerning the grownup themes depicted inside Horses (as evidenced by the intensive content material warning on the Horses web site), however stated it desires to provide experiences that problem gamers.
“Horses makes use of grotesque, subversive imagery to confront energy, religion, and violence. We reject subjective obscenity requirements and consider this sort of moralizing censorship evokes a darker previous by which obscure notions of ‘decency’ have been used to silence artists. Video games are an inventive medium and lawful works for adults ought to stay accessible,” defined the studio.
“We respect gamers sufficient to current the sport as meant and to let adults select what to play; lawful works shouldn’t be made unreachable by a monopolistic storefront’s opaque selections. Steam publicly downplays human curation in favor of algorithmic gross sales optimization, but intervenes with censorship when a recreation’s inventive imaginative and prescient doesn’t align with what the platform house owners considers acceptable artwork. Steam’s habits passively shapes which titles builders really feel protected creating, pushing preemptive censorship.”
Notably, Santa Ragione stated Horses was denied entry onto Steam earlier than fee processors reportedly started imposing grownup content material restrictions onto online game storefronts. The studio stated Valve rejected the title again in 2023—when it was nonetheless in a tough, incomplete state—however failed to supply an in depth rationalization as to why it had been blacklisted.
“After evaluation, we will be unable to ship your recreation Horses on Steam. Whereas we try to ship most titles submitted to us, we discovered that this title options themes, imagery, or descriptions that we received’t distribute,” reads the automated evaluation textual content despatched to Santa Ragione by Valve in 2023.
“No matter a developer’s intentions with their product, we won’t distribute content material that seems, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor. Whereas each product submitted is exclusive, in case your product options this illustration—even in a refined method that might be outlined as a ‘gray space’—will probably be rejected by Steam.”
Santa Ragione stated the complete rationalization did not cite any particular scenes or parts of the sport that might maybe be tweaked, regardless of the studio providing to vary any content material deemed unfit. It additionally acknowledged that Horses has not been altered on the request of different platform holders. “The model releasing quickly is the sport as we meant,” confirmed the studio.
Santa Ragione says the ban appears like a “coverage choice” versus a authorized one and emphasised that Horses does not depict any characters that might be mistaken for youngsters or minors. The studio feels Valve—which it stated “informally expressed concern” about a few of the recreation’s reside motion intermissions earlier than the automated Steam evaluation had concluded—might have flagged the title due to an unfinished scene in an early construct.
“We predict the ban might have been triggered through the preliminary Steam submission by an incomplete scene on day six, by which a person and his younger daughter go to the farm. The daughter desires to trip one of many horses (within the recreation the ‘horses’ are people carrying a horse masks) and will get to select which one,” stated the studio.
“What adopted was an interactive dialogue sequence the place the participant is main, by a lead as in the event that they have been a horse, a unadorned grownup girl with a younger woman on her shoulders. The scene shouldn’t be sexual in any method, however it’s potential that the juxtaposition is what triggered the flag. We’ve since modified the character within the scene to be a twenty-something girl, each to keep away from the juxtaposition and extra importantly as a result of the dialogue delivered in that scene, which offers with the societal construction on this planet of Horses, works significantly better when delivered by an older character.”
In fact, that continues to be hypothesis on the studio’s half, as a result of Valve has purportedly failed to clarify exactly which parts of Horses it deemed inappropriate. That, for Santa Ragione, is the core of the difficulty.
“We consider Steam deliberately retains its coverage opaque so it doesn’t have to face by clear guidelines and might alter selections to no matter greatest serves the platform at a given second,” added the studio. “That could be acceptable in a really aggressive market, however Steam is a de facto monopoly, and arbitrary, unpredictable selections can jeopardize the survival of builders and studios. We additionally consider they selected this notably loaded and generic accusation as a result of it’s troublesome to contest publicly.”
“We have been handled with out the skilled respect the scenario required”
Santa Ragione invested round $100,000 into the event of Horses, roughly half of which was donated by associates of the studio. It now feels that, with out entry to Steam, recouping that funding shall be not possible—leaving it dealing with the very actual threat of closure.
Discussing how the scenario has impacted the staff, Santa Ragione co-founder Pietro Righi Riva informed Recreation Developer the previous two years have been “profoundly disheartening.”
“The staff and I’ve been extraordinarily annoyed, understanding not solely that we did our greatest to revert this choice, but in addition that we provided to adjust to any request or regulation, and nonetheless we have been handled with out the skilled respect the scenario required,” he stated.
“It’s scary, humiliating, and patronizing to be informed ‘no, simply because’ by entities that maintain absolute energy over your monetary stability. I believe I personally really feel what we described within the press launch once we say this sort of strategy pushes creators towards self censorship. Not having clear boundaries about what I’m allowed to create and publish is miserable, and the alternative of an surroundings that permits and encourages creativity.”
Riva added that he feels “tricked and betrayed” by Valve, which he stated has obtained a considerable portion of Santa Ragione’s earnings over the 14 years it has been conducting enterprise on Steam.
“I mistakenly thought that had purchased us a sure stage {of professional} courtesy that might permit us to resolve any sort of situation. That perception gave me a false sense of safety, a way that the publishing course of was no less than considerably predictable. It’s laborious to not see malice when guidelines are saved purposely obscure whereas on the similar time there may be insistence that their curation is automated and ‘democratic’ as a result of people usually are not allowed within the course of,” he continued.
“I [also] really feel very dangerous for the creator, Andrea Lucco Borlera, as a result of he’s clearly the one with the deepest emotional connection to the work. I used to be very apprehensive about him once I first needed to break the information that the sport wouldn’t launch on Steam. Think about being informed that the work you will have spent years of your life on shouldn’t be going to be printed, with no purpose, and there may be nothing you are able to do.”
Riva stated your entire staff has been beneath “immense stress” after repeatedly making an attempt and failing to enchantment the ban. He’s additionally apprehensive that overtly criticising Valve might place the event staff within the firing line.
“I believe it is vitally necessary that we have now this dialog, however I do know this opens up the staff to further scrutiny and criticism, each on the whole for overtly criticising Valve, and particularly as a result of Steam’s allegations are so broad and extreme. It’s one thing that has actually saved me up at night time on many events,” he continued.
“Ultimately I believe [the team is] relieved that we managed to finish and launch the sport. Had we canceled it once we received banned, it could have been a lot worse. In fact everybody is unhappy that that is very doubtless going to be our final recreation collectively as Santa Ragione, however it’s no less than a comfort that it is going to be such an odd and hopefully memorable title.”
Recreation Developer has reached out to Valve for remark.
