After two years of work and over $100,000 invested, Italian indie developer Santa Ragione says it’s “likely closing” following Valve’s decision to ban its upcoming game Horses from Steam — a move the studio calls “frustrating and also completely messed up.”
Known for acclaimed experimental titles like Saturnalia and Mediterranea Inferno, Santa Ragione built a reputation for bold, art-driven storytelling. But this latest controversy could mark the end of the studio entirely.
In interviews with Eurogamer and Game Developer, co-founder Pietro Righi Riva said the team has been left “desperate” for answers after Steam rejected Horses without clear explanation — effectively cutting the game off from over 75% of the PC gaming market.
“It’s scary, humiliating, and patronizing to be told ‘no, just because’ by entities that hold absolute power over your financial stability,” Riva said.
A Mysterious Ban
Santa Ragione submitted Horses to Steam for approval in 2023, only to face unusually long delays in review. Valve eventually requested a full build of the game — still early in development at the time — before suddenly rejecting it.
Valve’s official statement to the studio read:
“We will not distribute content that appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor. Even in a subtle way that could be defined as a ‘grey area,’ it will be rejected by Steam.”
Santa Ragione disputes that claim, saying there are no scenes or characters in Horses that depict such content. The team suspects the issue stemmed from a symbolic scene featuring a “horse” — portrayed as a nude adult woman — carrying a young child on her back. To address concerns, the studio even redesigned the scene so that the rider is an adult, but Valve refused to reconsider.
Meanwhile, other storefronts — including Epic Games Store, GOG, and Humble — have reportedly approved Horses for release.
“A Broken System”
The studio’s statement accuses Steam of creating a “broken system” that allows opaque decisions to destroy small developers overnight:
“In a de facto monopoly, decisions like these can quickly determine a small studio’s survival.”
With most publishers pulling support after the ban, Santa Ragione had to borrow funds from friends just to finish the game. Now, without access to Steam’s massive audience, Horses may never turn a profit — effectively ending the studio’s 13-year run.
Despite the setback, the team says it will still support Horses after launch with patches and updates, but there are no plans for future projects unless the game unexpectedly breaks even.
“We offered to comply with any request or regulation,” Riva said, “but were treated without the professional respect the situation required. Not knowing what we’re allowed to create is depressing — it pushes creators toward self-censorship.”
As of now, Valve has not commented on the situation.
💭 Cypher’s Take
This story sucks, and it shows the power imbalance between indie developers and digital storefronts. Steam isn’t just another platform; for most small studios, it is the platform.
When a company with near-monopoly control can shut down years of work with one vague decision, that’s not content moderation, that’s creative gatekeeping. It’s the same issue with YouTube and thier random bans to channels with very vauge wording on what the creator did wrong.
If Horses really is their last ride, let’s hope it sparks a bigger conversation about transparency, fairness, and the future of indie games in a Steam-dominated world.
