New Horror Game Is Banned on Almost Every Major PC Storefront

A disturbing new horror game has been banned on almost every major PC storefront, making it less accessible and hurting its chances at being successful. For many years, video games have been able to depict just about anything within legal reason. You can violently kill and dismember someone, commit crimes, view sex scenes, and even play pornographic games with interactivity. The ESRB has ensured there are some limitations via the ratings system, with most games having to adhere to an E – M rating if it wants a console release, though there has been a bit more flexibility when it comes to releasing on an open system like PC.

Throughout the year, we’ve seen a crackdown on some adult-centric games on Steam, with Valve banning some of them. These types of games aren’t forbidden across the board, but certain types of content seem to be flagged by Valve and aren’t allowed on Steam. It has been a divisive topic, with some feeling it is censorship against art and that these games should be allowed to be sold, with appropriate age gates to prevent younger audiences from accessing them. However, the latest game to receive a ban is not inherently pornographic, instead, it’s a disturbing horror game.

Horror Game Horses Banned from Steam, Epic Games Store, and Humble

A brand new Italian horror game known as Horses was banned from Steam. Valve had restricted the game from being released on the platform two year ago, when it was still deep into development. Developer Santa Ragione claimed that the reasons for the ban were left unclear, and Valve refused to reassess the game after changes to content were made, though Valve said it did give clear feedback and confirmed it decided not to re-evaluate the game after extensive deliberation.

This was a major blow, but Horses was still set to get a release on Epic Games Store, Humble, GOG, and Itch.io. Unfortunately, that has all changed. As reported by IGN, Horses is out now, but both Epic Games Store and Humble have backed out of its release at the last minute. According to Epic Games, Horses received an AO rating through the IARC Questionnaire it filled out while reviewing the game.

Santa Ragione argued that it got an M when it filled out the same questionnaire, but Epic stated that it simply doesn’t allow AO-rated games on its platform. The company also cited two specific policy violations: “the ‘Inappropriate Content’ policy prohibits content which “contains explicit or frequent depictions of sexual behavior or not appropriately labeled, rated, or age-gated.” The ‘Hateful or Abusive Content’ policy prohibits content that promotes abuse and animal abuse.”

The team attempted to appeal the ban from Epic, but were denied within 12 hours “without further explanation.” Humble has yet to clarify its specific reason for banning the game. Horses is attempting to try and be a challenging, disturbing game, but the developers claim it’s taking an artistic stance. It’s not doing it purely for the sake of shock value. They’ve also argued that this wouldn’t happen in film with services like Netflix or Amazon. As of right now, Horses is available for $5 through GOG and Itch.io, even garnering an average user review score of 4.4 out of 5 on GOG.

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