Epic Games has finally outlined its reasons for banning Santa Ragione’s horror game Horses from its platform and store, with a fresh statement by company vice president Steve Allison encouraging a formal response.
Recently speaking to Game File, Allison was questioned about the company’s 2025 decision to ban Horses, to which he responded: ‘We love that studio.’
He further stated its high-profile game ban was a result of Horses being against Epic Games policy on a ‘couple fronts’ – but he did not specify which policies the game had violated.
Epic Games Horses ban – quick links
Santa Ragione refutes Epic Games’ ‘love’ for the studio
Swiftly following the release of Game File‘s latest article, the Santa Ragione studio spoke out on social media about Allison’s claim, alleging the company did not love the studio, as it had made ‘provably incorrect statements about [Horses‘] content’.
The studio further alleged Epic Games had ‘refused to provide details supporting their claims, and has not shared their claimed AO [Adults Only] IARC certificate, which normally includes a link for the developer to appeal’.
‘They have effectively ghosted us,’ Santa Ragione claimed.
It pointed to full walkthroughs of Horses on YouTube and Twitch that are publicly available, as well as the game’s spot on the Humble Store, as reasons it ‘does not deserve’ an AO rating.
Epic Games pushes back against Santa Ragione’s claims
Responding to Santa Ragione’s claims, in a statement to GamesRadar and other media outlets, Epic Games formally detailed the process behind Horses‘ ban, confirming it determined a violation of specific content guidelines in multiple checks.
‘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 Brian Sharon, Senior Communications Manager.
‘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 [Epic Games] Store. Because this wasn’t an official submission, we do not have a certificate to share with the team.’
Per Sharon, Epic Games ‘did give the developers context around the policies they violated’. Further, Sharon claimed they gave Horses a chance on appeal, reviewing the content for a second time, before the same judgement was made. Santa Ragione was allegedly informed of this decision and its finality.
What’s next for Santa Ragione?
As outlined by Santa Ragione, it appears Horses could be the end of the line for the studio.
The controversy surrounding Horses raised the studio’s profile enough that it was able to raise funds to pay back its loans and royalties, but this has not been enough to secure its long-term future.
Horses‘ ban on multiple storefronts will also reportedly have an impact on the studio’s ability to release new games.
‘While the launch of Horses compares very favourably to our most recent launches on Steam, Steam’s economics rely heavily on multi-year long-tail sales and, for our past projects, on Steam key distribution through bundles, which has also lately been restricted for low-selling titles,’ Santa Ragione said in late 2025.
While the studio maintains an active presence online, its future currently remains in doubt.
Also on ScreenHub: Banned game Horses has not sold enough copies to ensure Santa Ragione’s future
Santa Ragione’s Horses faced a difficult battle to launch. Just hours ahead of its initially planned release, the game was banned from multiple online storefronts, including Steam and the Epic Games Store, for alleged violations of store policies.
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