Horses, a first-person narrative horror game, was banned from the Epic Games Store just hours before it was set to launch on December 2nd. Then, a day after launch, the Humble store (temporarily) banned it as well. The decision shocked the developers at Santa Ragione, makers of the critically respected Saturnalia, as these storefronts were the homes they’d found for their game two years before it was preemptively banned from Steam.
Valve and Epic say Horses violates their sexual content policies. Humble hasn’t yet said why it banned the game.
My sleepy brain was expecting something about Umamusume or however you spell that horse girl game
Banned is the wrong word.
Steam chose not to distribute it because it they understood an early build to include children in sexual situations. Further builds did not dissuade them from the original decision.
Epic, who originally was going to distribute based on the developer filling out some form chose not to after filling it out themselves and finding it had a higher rating (adult only) at the last minute.
The developer speculated it was about a specific scene, but based on both steam and epic there are fundamental concerns about the content that led to no distributing on their platforms, which is not banning, that do not align with the story the developers are presenting. It is not likely to be about one scene that was in an earlier build that was the issue for them.
The important thing is that the game is not BANNED in any way whatsoever. It is available on fewer distribution platforms, which reduces visibility, but is not banning any more than exclusive deals or limited releases are banning on other platforms.
Personally I get the impression that the developers see the content very differently than steam and epic because the developers focus on intent and steam and epic focus on what actually exists in the game.
I keep seeing the “well its got nudity what did they expect” take and saw this article that talks about the meta-narrative and theme:
https://noescapevg.com/all-that-fucking-bullshit-abouthorses-and-for-what/
It being weird and uncomfortable is the point - Though obviously its not meant to be a game for everyone.
Terrible timing. There was just that payment processor panic with the porn games. Now you wanna have a kid talk to a naked man with a horse mask. I get its not sexual but read the room. It was clearly a bad idea even if it was meant to convey some profound message. Honestly I dont think that would have ever worked out. Its just whack.
Submitting to moral panic bullshit doesn’t placate them. It only emboldens them.
Okay, cool. Do you think having a little girl talk to a naked horseman is something that would help sell the game? Or make it onto a marketplace anywhere? Thats why it was removed and they already tried to placate by makkng the girl an adult and that didnt work obviously. So whats your point here? Leave that content in the game? That doesnt solve the developers problem.
I literally don’t care if they had a little girl talk to a naked horseman (who is being treated by the game like a regular horse and not a man at all to make a point). My point is that banning things that aren’t child porn because of moral outrage leads to the moral crusaders escalating. Next thing you know they’re gunning for lgbt themes, then going after violence. It’s ridiculous and should be ridiculed and dismissed instead of pretending things are child porn just because you don’t like them.
Yeah all I am saying is this isn’t surprising. It should have been expected. I doubt you will ever be able to put a child model in a game next to nude adukt models and not get your game pulled from mainstream marketplaces. Thats just the current reality we live in and is not surprising. I mysslf dont think its offensive in this context. But again this outcome is completely expected.
- The person in these comments that has actually played the game said there isn’t actually a single child in the game.
- I’m never going to decide to just accept bullshit “because it’s not surprising”. That’s completely asinine.
Go to horses.wtf if you really want to know more. I myself dont think this is a hill worth dying on.
You’re not even trying to understand what I’m saying if you think that deciding if this particular game is the hill to die on is what I care about. I don’t give a shit about this particular game. I care about maintaining the principles of not letting moralists dictate what art and media is appropriate for everyone else.
but can that content be removed without changing the game? they already changed her from a kid to a grown woman, because it fit the story and the message better, apparently. but would removing that entirely still work?
idk, i haven’t played or analysed the game. i’m guessing that it’s there for a reason. but i do know that demanding content be changed because it makes us uncomfortable is not a good thing!
I have played the game. There’s far more pornographic games on Steam. All of the nudity is censored, there are no kids or even characters that could be mistaken for kids in the game, and it’s obvious in its intent - there’s nothing that I’d describe as even approaching titillating; the whole experience is clearly just intended to - and successfully so - make you feel uncomfortable and unsettled. The scene in question - the one that previously had the young girl - is particularly unsettling specifically because of how it normalizes everything else that’s going on, and I agree with them that the scene works better with a grown woman than it would have with a kid. There’s no reason for this to be banned on Steam.
Yeah cause the content that made headlines was changed. So you won’t see it by playing you had to read into why. Look, I’ll get down on some Futa Femboy House. Lets go. But maybe lets not involve kids and nudity in the global community, thats a recipe for disaster. Either way, that will for sure get you delisted and you cant act surprised in this capitalist, bland-shit-to-widest-audience world. What just happened will happen to you. Maybe if they wanted it to be considered art, which I think might have gone better, present it aa that at a gallery or your own hosted site. Valve or any big corp is not going to fuck with that 100%. I’m just honestly surprised they’re surprised and this is making such a big splash.
Whether they’re surprised or not, going public with it was a good marketing ploy because I never would have known about the game if they hadn’t, and I bought it. I’m sure many more of their sales can be attributed to the same.
I for sure would not have seen this game if it werent for these articles. So maybe its part of the plot. Capitalism strikes again?
iirc the game was refused by steam before the payment processor thing, and even then, you don’t scrap your whole project because of one moral panic. not only is it bowing down to pressure, it’s also just a terrible idea financially
I mean are you saying they should have left the game as is? Really dont understand your argument here. It seems this is more just bad taste rather than a moral panic.
Oh, so its not just Steam banning the game. So shitting on Steam is not fair then: https://www.eurogamer.net/its-extremely-frustrating-and-also-fcked-up-one-of-the-worlds-best-indie-studios-is-facing-shock-closure-following-confounding-steam-ban
