Hold onto your gamepads, horror fans, because the wild ride of indie developer Santa Ragione's electrifying game Horses just hit another twist! After a sizzling wave of controversy surrounding its ban from Steam last week, Horses is making headlines again, and not for the best reasons. Just before its much-anticipated release, the Epic Games Store gave the game the boot, leaving fans and gamers perplexed and hungry for answers!
Santa Ragione broke the news with a press release that landed like a bolt of lightning, revealing that, despite previous approval and countdown excitement, Epic Games Store yanked Horses from their list mere hours before launch, offering cryptic critiques of 'Inappropriate Content' and 'Hateful or Abusive Content'. But what's behind those obscure accusations? What about Horses could have spurred such decisions? Santa Ragione is asking the same questions!
To light the fuse, here's the text of the jaw-dropping email sent by Epic Games Store, confirmed by their representatives. They claim:
We are unable to distribute Horses on the Epic Games Store because our review found violations of the Epic Games Store Content Guidelines, specifically the ‘Inappropriate Content’ and ‘Hateful or Abusive Content’ policies. 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. This content is prohibited by our Guidelines and cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store. Additionally, when we [Epic] filled out the IARC Questionnaire based on the content that we reviewed, it received an Adult Only (AO) rating. Products with AO ratings cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store (the only exception is for products in cases where an AO rating was applied solely due to the usage of blockchain or NFT technology). You have some options on how to move forward: 1. You can make updates to your product to ensure compliance and resubmit it for review. 2. If you believe we made a mistake, you also have the ability to appeal this decision. You can appeal by replying to this email or creating a private discussion on our Developer Support site. Select "Epic Games Store" as the topic. 3. You cannot change the title or content to repurpose it for another game. If you choose not to move forward, we'll refund your submission fee for this product.
12 hours and a denied appeal later, frustration simmers as Santa Ragione revealed their IARC Questionnaire scored an 'M' for Mature—a far cry from the 'AO' rating Epic cited. The mystery deepens!
With the gaming world watching closely, Santa Ragione stands strong, emphasizing community support following Steam's ban, even drawing a lifeline from GOG's vocal endorsements. Was this a strategic retreat by Epic amidst a storm of publicity, or a simple case of crossed wires? The speculation is as intense as the game itself!
IGN reached out to Epic Games for comment, hoping to shed light on this rollercoaster of events. While communications director Jake Jones responded, his feedback remains shrouded in the mists of uncompleted replies.
As we await further developments, one thing's for sure: the world of indie horror is nothing if not thrilling! Will Horses ride again? Stay tuned, gamers—this race is far from over!