GOG has waded into the drama surrounding Horses, the experimental horror recreation banned from Steam, publicly endorsing its acclaimed indie developer and proclaiming that the corporate is “proud” to host it.
For some background, Italian developer Santa Ragione has been behind some beloved horror video games over time, together with Saturnalia and Mediterranea Inferno, however not too long ago hit a pace bump (or impenetrable brick wall) when Valve blocked the discharge of its subsequent recreation, Horses, on SteamSimply the most important PC retailer by far.
He CD Projekt CrimsonPrivately held digital platform GOG is now attempting to make up the distinction. “We’re proud to provide HORSES a house on GOG, giving gamers one other strategy to benefit from the recreation,” the showcase stated. tweeted at this time. “Now we have at all times believed that gamers ought to be capable to select the experiences they’re concerned with. To assist studio Santa Ragione on this troublesome time, we now have determined to launch pre-orders on HORSES at this time – seize yours and have a good time their creativity!”
Getting banned from Steam is often a loss of life sentence for smaller studios. Not solely are you remoted from the vast majority of folks seeking to purchase video games, however unbiased publishers are much less prone to fund your tasks, as the trail to profitability is way more troublesome.
As for why horses have been banned, right here it’s Valvethe declaration of GI.biz in full:
“We reviewed the sport in 2023. At the moment, the developer indicated with its launch date on Steamworks that they deliberate to launch it just a few months later. Primarily based on the content material of the shop web page, we advised the developer that we would want to overview the construct itself. This generally occurs if the content material of the shop web page raises considerations that the sport itself may not meet our tips. After our crew performed the construct and reviewed the content material, we gave the developer suggestions on why not “We have been capable of ship the sport on Steam, in accordance with our onboarding guidelines and tips. Shortly thereafter, the developer requested us to rethink the overview, and our inner content material overview crew mentioned this at size and communicated to the developer our last resolution that we might not ship the sport on Steam.”
speaking to RPSSanta Ragione surmised that the ban arose from a scene within the 2023 construct by which a boy asks to trip one of many titular bare, horse-faced people, which appears extra like a commentary on exploitation than something titillating.
“The scene isn’t sexual in any method, however it’s doable that the juxtaposition is what triggered the flag,” the studio advised RPS. “We have since modified the character within the scene to be a girl in her mid-twenties, each to keep away from juxtaposition and, extra importantly, as a result of the dialogue offered in that scene, which offers with the social construction on the planet of Horses, works significantly better when delivered by an older character.”
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