Santa Ragione’s New Horror Game Horses Is Banned From Steam and May Become the Studio’s Final Release

Santa Ragione, the acclaimed Italian independent studio founded by Pietro Righi Riva and known for celebrated titles such as Saturnalia and Mediterranea Inferno, is preparing to launch its newest project Horses on multiple digital storefronts. The title will arrive on the Epic Games Store, GOG, the Humble Store and Itch.io. However, Horses will not be launching on Steam and that absence may result in the studio’s closure.

The situation does not stem from a lack of interest in releasing Horses on Steam. Santa Ragione submitted the game well within the appropriate timelines, and the team was fully committed to a Steam release. The issue is that Horses has been banned from the Steam platform entirely. In an interview with GamesIndustry Biz, Pietro Righi Riva explained that the studio received an automated message informing them that Steam would not distribute the game.

According to the message sent to the studio, Steam determined that the title contained themes, imagery or descriptions that Valve considers unacceptable for distribution, specifically regarding any content that could be interpreted as depicting sexual conduct involving a minor. The message stated that Valve will not distribute any product that includes such representation even if the content exists only as a subtle interpretation or is considered a grey area by the developer. Valve added that settings such as high school environments with characters declared to be of legal age still fall into a prohibited category. The message also confirmed that the ban is permanent and the application cannot be resubmitted in any form.

Valve has not provided further explanation to Santa Ragione. According to Riva, communication from Valve stopped entirely after the banning decision. When the studio first submitted the project for review, Valve requested an entire playable build of the full game. This is an uncommon request and at the time Horses was only partially finished. As a result, the team rushed to deliver an incomplete version so Valve could play through the title in its current state.

Santa Ragione believes the ban may have been triggered during this early build. The initial submission included an unfinished scene on day six of the story where a man and his daughter visit a farm. The scene involved an interactive sequence in which the player guides an adult woman on a lead with a young girl sitting on her shoulders. The scene was not intended to be sexual in any way, but the juxtaposition may have been flagged during Valve’s review process.

The studio notes that this scene was revised significantly after the submission. The young girl was replaced by an adult woman in her twenties both to avoid any misinterpreted juxtaposition and because the narrative content delivered during the scene aligned better with an older character. However, since Valve evaluated an unfinished version that contained the earlier build, the ban appears to have been based on the incomplete material.

Because the ban is permanent, and because withdrawing from Steam drastically limits potential revenue, Santa Ragione acknowledges that it may not be able to recover development costs. Pietro Righi Riva shared that unless Horses performs extraordinarily well on its remaining digital storefronts, the studio may not survive financially after its release.

Riva explained that the money earned from Horses will go to the author and to those who financially supported the project rather than toward future development. With little funding expected to remain for a new title, the closure of Santa Ragione becomes a likely outcome unless Horses achieves exceptional commercial success.

Despite this situation, Riva reflected with gratitude on how their games have resonated with dedicated players. Santa Ragione has always created games with highly specific artistic identities rather than mainstream appeal. Riva expressed a deep personal connection to players who supported the studio’s unique vision over the years. If Horses becomes the final release from Santa Ragione, Riva believes it is a work that proudly stands on its own.

Horses will launch on PC through GOG, the Humble Store, the Epic Games Store and Itch.io on December 2, 2025.

Do you think Steam’s automated content policies need further transparency, or is this a necessary safeguard for the platform