It’s been a big year for horses in video games. First, there was the enormous popularity of the horse-girl game Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, and now there’s the kerfuffle surrounding Horses, a horror game making its debut off-Steam after the popular storefront barred its release. Luckily for Horses, another major PC storefront has publicly avowed its support for the title.
On X, GOG.COM claimed that the storefront is “proud to give HORSES a home,” sharing a link to pre-order the game ahead of its December 2 launch. GOG has long been a major home for DRM-free PC games, but the company behind the site, CD Projekt, has become even more well-known for The Witcher games and Cyberpunk 2077. Horses retails for $4.99 on GOG and the Epic Games Store.
Horses Was Banned By Steam
No Chance To Appeal
Horses is an intentionally provocative game, depicting an unnerving setting where naked humans are ridden like horses. Steam’s issue with the title came from an earlier build where a child rode on the shoulders of a naked adult woman, which understandably fell afoul of the platform’s ban on “sexual content involving a minor.”
Horses developer Santa Ragione has insisted that the scene was never intended to be sexual, but acknowledges that Valve had a right to object to it. The problem is that, after removing the scene, Santa Ragione had no option to resubmit the game for consideration. Consequently, a studio with a long history of games on Steam is having to make do without PC’s biggest storefront, jeopardizing its financial prospects.
GOG Has Picked It Up
Horses Has A Welcoming Home
With a comfortable home on GOG, however, things might not be that bad for Horses. The controversy surrounding its ban has generated a lot of discussion surrounding the game, which may be even better marketing than a spot on Steam would be. I’m familiar with most of Santa Ragione’s previous games, but they were never gunning for blockbuster status, with each title generally racking up a few hundred reviews on Steam.
Even if Santa Ragione does manage to recoup its investments, there’s still a larger question of censorship on Steam and where the platform draws the line on artistic expression. Hard lines on sexual content involving children are definitely necessary, but Horses seems like a fairly different situation from a trashy visual novel, especially after the scene in question was cut.
Steam has issued a statement standing by its decision, so it doesn’t look like anything will change on that front. With GOG expressing the opposite sentiment, the battle lines have been drawn.
- Released
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December 2, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Crude Humor, Language, Nudity, Sexual Content, VIolence
- Developer(s)
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Andrea Lucco Borlera
- Publisher(s)
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Santa Ragione