Epic insists it gave Horses studio “context” following decision to ban controversial horror game

Epic Games has disputed it made “provably incorrect statements” to Horses developer Santa Ragione, insisting feedback was provided when it concluded the horror game breached the Epic Game Store’s content guidelines and could not be listed for sale.

Italian developer Santa Ragione stated in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz in December that it was facing closure after Valve said it would not host its upcoming horror title Horses on Steam. A few days later, Epic Games Store also withdrew support for the provocative game.

Now, following an interview with Game File in which Epic Games VP Steve Allison talked about “loving” Santa Ragione’s work, the indie developer accused Epic of “ghosting” it and failing to provide the Adults Only certificate to the team.

“Epic made provably incorrect statements about the game’s content, refused to provide details supporting their claims, and has not shared their claimed AO IARC certificate, which normally includes a link for the developer to appeal,” the studio claimed in a BlueSky post.

“They do not ‘love [our] studio’, they have effectively ghosted us.

“The fact that the game does not deserve an AO rating is apparent from the widely available full walkthroughs on YouTube and Twitch, as well as from its distribution on the Humble Store,” Santa Ragione added in a follow-up post.

In a statement to press, however, Epic disputes this, insisting it could not issue a certificate because it “wasn’t an official submission.” It also stresses that the developers were provided “context” around the policies Horses violated.

“Our team played the game and found it violated the Epic Games Store’s Content Guidelines, specifically the ‘Inappropriate Content’ and ‘Hateful or Abusive Content’ policies,” said Epic Games’ senior communications manager, Brian Sharon.

“We did a secondary check by filling out the ratings questionnaire for the game ourselves and the content got an Adults Only (AO) rating – which we do not allow on the Store. Because this wasn’t an official submission, we do not have a certificate to share with the team.

“We did give the developers context around the policies they violated. When they appealed, we reviewed the content again, and let them know the decision was appropriately applied and will remain in place.”

As of mid-December, Horses had sold over 18,000 copies despite being deplatformed from Steam and Epic Games Store, generating around $65,000 in net revenue “following extraordinary coverage of the bans, GOG’s public support, and a very positive reaction from players.” But while that was enough to pay royalties and settle loans, the team said it was not enough to shore up the future of the studio.