Earlier this year, Valve changed its rules to prevent adult games from having early-access releases on Steam. That came in the aftermath of a broader push against adult titles on Steam and Itch.io, largely at the behest of banks and payment processors. The upcoming indie horror game Horses is rated M for Mature, but it’s not an adult title. Regardless, Steam informed the developer, Santa Ragione, that Horses was banned from the platform in 2023. The developer claims Valve has never explained its reasons for the ban in the two years since the ruling.
Horses is a first-person title that casts players as a ranch hand who spends two weeks at an increasingly bizarre and unsettling farm. The horses in this game aren’t horses at all. They’re naked humans wearing horse masks who are forced to act like beasts of burden.
Santa Ragione insists that Horses is not pornographic, and the publisher jokingly added that it apologizes if it “got your hopes up for horse porn.” Instead, Santa Ragione says it’s using “challenging, unconventional material to encourage discussion. It invites players to examine why something feels the way it does, what it says about the characters and systems at work, and where their limits lie. It is about tension, not erotic content.”
It’s interesting to see how changing policies can impact game releases before they even start. This situation definitely highlights the ongoing discussions around content and accessibility in the gaming industry. Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds!