According to Polygon, the Epic Games Store has banned the indie horror game Horses from its platform just one day before its scheduled launch. This follows a similar preemptive ban by Valve’s Steam during the game’s development. The Italian developer, Santa Ragione, states Epic cited violations of “Inappropriate Content” and “Hateful or Abusive Content” guidelines, and that an internal review resulted in an automatic Adult Only (AO) rating. However, the developer claims the game’s nudity is pixelated, it does not promote abuse, and that it officially received a PEGI 18 and ESRB M rating over five weeks prior. They also note their final build was approved by Epic 18 days before the sudden ban. The game is still available for purchase on GOG, itch.io, and the Humble Store.
A Messy Content Moderation Fight
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a simple ban. It’s a case study in how opaque and frustrating platform content moderation can be for developers. Santa Ragione has posted a detailed report of their communications, and it paints a picture of automated responses and vague reasoning. They filled out the official IARC questionnaire and got a Mature rating, but Epic’s own internal review somehow generated an AO rating. Which one is correct? And if the final build was approved 18 days out, what changed in the last 24 hours?
The developer’s argument is compelling. If all nudity is censored with pixelation, how is it an “explicit depiction”? If the game is a critique of violence, how is it promoting abuse? These aren’t easy questions, but Epic’s apparent failure to point to specific, actionable content in their appeal response is a bad look. It makes the process seem arbitrary. Basically, it leaves a small indie team twisting in the wind after years of work.
The Real Winners and Losers
So who benefits from this? In the immediate sense, the other storefronts. Platforms like GOG and itch.io suddenly look like havens for creative, challenging work. They’re positioning themselves as the places where controversial art can exist without facing the same blanket corporate policies. The Humble Store gets a boost too. This incident is free marketing for them, highlighting their alternative approach.
The loser, obviously, is Santa Ragione, who loses a major launch platform and revenue stream. But Epic loses here too, at least in terms of reputation with certain developers. They’ve been trying to court indie devs with better revenue splits, but what good is an 88/12 split if you can get yanked off the store a day before launch with confusing explanations? It undermines trust. For a store trying to compete with Steam’s massive network, that’s a problem.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Look, no one is arguing that platforms shouldn’t have rules. But this case highlights a massive transparency issue. Is the IARC system broken if a platform can override it with its own review? Shouldn’t there be a clear, human-driven appeals process with specific feedback? The developer posted on Bluesky about their frustration, and you can feel it.
Ultimately, Horses will find its audience on other stores. The controversy might even help it. But the bigger question remains: how can large digital storefronts create fair, consistent, and communicative moderation systems? Right now, for developers working on the edge, it seems like a roll of the dice. And that’s a scary place for creativity to be.
