Previously, the game was kicked out of Steam for "sexual conduct involving a minor."
The psychological horror Horses from the Italian indie studio Santa Ragione was supposed to be released simultaneously on GOG, Humble Bundle, Itch.io, and Epic Games Store. However, a day before the release, EGS unexpectedly withdrew its approval and refused to distribute the game.
The platform's administration explained its decision by saying that the game contained unacceptable content that promoted violence, including violence against animals.
Santa Ragione strongly disagrees with this decision by the Epic Games Store.
The game does not contain explicit or frequent depictions of sexual behavior. All nudity in the game is completely pixelated. There are no visible sexual acts involving genitals, all animations are stylized and unrealistic. In three hours of gameplay, there are only four short and censored sexual scenes, two of which occur mostly off-screen. The game does not in any way promote violence (including violence against animals). On the contrary, it is a harsh critique of violence in general.
The studio emphasizes that the final build of the game was approved by Epic more than two weeks ago, and no comments were made at that time.
After receiving the refusal, the studio repeatedly asked its curator at Epic to specify the specific scenes or elements that caused the complaints in order to be able to fix them. No response was received. The appeal was rejected automatically, without explanation and without specifying the problem areas.
The game was also not allowed on Steam.
