Overview
- Santa Ragione says Epic reversed course roughly 24 hours before launch despite having approved the final build 18 days earlier, then rejected an appeal within 12 hours without detailing required changes.
- Epic cited violations of its Inappropriate Content and Hateful or Abusive Content policies and said an IARC questionnaire returned an Adults Only rating, which the developer contests.
- The studio maintains all nudity is pixelated, sexual scenes are brief and stylized, the game critiques violence and abuse, and prior IARC/ESRB/PEGI submissions returned ESRB M and PEGI 18 rather than AO.
- Valve previously refused to distribute Horses in 2023 after reviewing an early build; Santa Ragione later replaced a child in a flagged scene with an adult, but Steam declined to reappraise the finished game.
- Horses remains on sale via GOG and Itch.io, while Humble’s listing was removed or altered after Epic’s decision, and the developer warns that about $100,000 invested puts the studio at risk without broader storefront access.