Epic Games Store has banned the horror game ‘Horses’ just before its planned release.,The developer, Santa Ragione, claims Epic provided vague reasons and an incorrect age rating.Last week, it was reported that the disturbing horror game ‘Horses’ had been banned from Steam. Developer Santa Ragione stated that Valve refused to give a clear reason for the ban or discuss it further.
Now, shortly before its planned wider release on other PC storefronts, the Epic Games Store has also banned ‘Horses’. Santa Ragione shared this news via a press release, stating that Epic informed them 24 hours before the game’s release that it would not be distributed on their platform. This decision came despite the game’s build having been approved for release weeks earlier.
According to the developer, no specific details about the problematic content were provided. Instead, they received “only broad and demonstrably incorrect claims that it violated their content guidelines.” The studio has shared an email from Epic that confirms the ban, which an Epic Games Store representative has verified as accurate. The email states:
“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.”
Santa Ragione appealed the decision, but claims it was denied 12 hours later “without further explanation.” The studio also stated on social media that their own IARC Questionnaire submission resulted in an “M” for “Mature” rating, not “AO.” The reason for this discrepancy is unclear.
Santa Ragione explained the situation: “Epic’s decision comes after the overwhelming support Santa Ragione received last week upon the disclosure of Steam’s ban, including the public announcement by Epic’s and Steam’s competitor GOG that they would promote and support the game. We do not know what triggered Epic’s sudden decision.”
Following the announcement of Steam’s ban, ‘Horses’ gained significant online visibility, with strong support and some vocal opposition. The developer questioned whether this visibility played a larger role in Epic’s decision than any newly discovered issues with the game itself.
IGN contacted Epic Games for comment and received a statement from communications director Jake Jones: “We set clear guidelines for the content that can be distributed on the Epic Games Store and found violations of those guidelines during our extensive review.”
At the time of this article’s publication, ‘Horses’ is still listed as “Coming Soon” on the Epic Games Store.
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