Horses Horror Game Banned by Steam, Finds New Home on GOG

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Horses have been a surprisingly big topic in gaming this year. The horse-racing game Uma Musume: Pretty Derby became incredibly popular, and now there’s drama around the new horror game Horses. Steam wouldn’t allow its release, but another major PC game store has stepped up to support it.

GOG.COM recently announced on X (formerly Twitter) that they’re excited to offer the game HORSES on their platform, with a link to pre-order before its December 2nd release. GOG is well-known for selling PC games without DRM (digital rights management). The company that owns GOG, CD Projekt, is also famous for creating games like The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. HORSES is available for $4.99 on both GOG and the Epic Games Store.

Horses Was Banned By Steam

No Chance To Appeal

The game Horses is deliberately unsettling, showing people riding naked humans as if they were horses. Steam initially had problems with it because an older version featured a child riding on a naked adult woman, which violated the platform’s rules against sexually suggestive content involving minors.

The developer of the game Horses, Santa Ragione, maintains the removed scene wasn’t meant to be sexual, but understands Valve’s right to object to it. Unfortunately, after the scene was removed, Santa Ragione couldn’t resubmit the game for approval. As a result, this studio, which has released many games on Steam, is now without access to a major platform, potentially harming its financial stability.

GOG Has Picked It Up

Horses Has A Welcoming Home

Despite being removed from Steam, the game Horses might actually benefit from being available on GOG. The controversy over its ban has created a lot of buzz, which could be more effective advertising than being featured on Steam. I’ve played other games by the developer, Santa Ragione, and while they’re good, they usually only get a few hundred reviews on Steam – they’re not typically aiming for huge mainstream success.

Even if the game Santa Ragione makes back its money, it still raises concerns about censorship on Steam and how much creative freedom the platform allows. Strict rules against sexual content involving children are understandable, but the case of Horses feels different than a typical adult visual novel, particularly since the problematic scene was removed.

Steam has reaffirmed its position and doesn’t plan to alter course. This puts them at odds with GOG, which feels differently, creating a clear divide between the two platforms.

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2025-11-29 21:13