Producer behind banned horror game Horses says public outcry and support "made a huge, huge difference," but it's still "very likely" the end for the studio

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Producer behind banned horror game Horses says public outcry and support "made a huge, huge difference," but it's still "very likely" the end for the studio News By Jordan Gerblick published 10 December 2025

"We might be able to pay back the people who have lent us the money and pay off the debt. But it's unlikely that will give us enough money to actually produce something new at this point"

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(Image credit: Santa Ragione)

Horses developer Santa Ragione is still "very likely" done making games despite an uptick in sales seemingly stemming from recent publicity and community support.

Despite being banned on Steam and, mere days prior to launch, on the Epic Games Store too, Horses released on Humble and GOG to generally favorable reviews on December 2 and topped GOG's best-seller charts against all odds. Santa Ragione founder and Horses producer Pietro Righi Riva said recently the game's virality did help sales, but not enough to get the studio "out of the woods," and now, he's going a step further by re-confirming what he said before launch: that Horses is almost certainly the studio's final game.

"The reaction and the attention and the support, and the public participation in supporting and preserving and helping the studio, has made a huge, huge difference compared to whether the game had to be released exclusively outside of Steam and without any public outcry or any public discourse surrounding the game," Riva tells Polygon.

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Riva estimates Horses will end up with about 10,000 units sold for its first week, which he says is "great," but still not quite enough to pay back the investors that funded the game after its Steam ban. Ultimately, Riva says "it looks like we will be able to give that money back," but unfortunately the prospect of profits being enough to fund another game are a lot less optimistic.

"The trajectory that we're seeing now, as we discussed before, in sales, it looks like we might be able to pay back the people who have lent us the money and pay off the debt," says Riva.

"But it's unlikely that will give us enough money to actually produce something new at this point — because, keep in mind, because of the whole situation, we had to stop development halfway through the game. And at the same time, Valve not giving us Steam Keys for Saturnalia meant we couldn't sell it through bundles in a way that would have given us the kind of cash flow that we needed to start new projects."

It's not over for Santa Ragione yet, as Riva says there's still a chance an investor will come along and fund the studio's next project, but as it stands now it looks like closure is the most likely outcome, which sucks, because even if it isn't everyone's taste, we need more weird horror games with statements to make, not fewer.

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After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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Logout Read more After 2 years and $100,000 invested, acclaimed indie studio is "likely closing" due to Steam ban, says it was "tricked and betrayed" by Valve: "A system that allows that is broken"    One week after an acclaimed indie studio said it faces closure following a Steam ban for its surreal horror game, Humble joins Epic in banning Horses at the last minute    Valve's "final decision" is that surreal horror game Horses will not be sold on Steam, despite the acclaimed studio behind it "likely closing" after sinking 2 years and $100,000 into it    "This still does not compare to the kind of audience we would have on Steam": Horses lead says ban virality helped sales "but we're not out of the woods," and he fears "self-censorship" with future games    Banned by Steam, $100,000 in the hole, and facing shutdown, graphic horror game dev now dropped by Epic Games Store "roughly 24 hours before launch"    Banned horror game Horses now topping GOG's best-seller charts amid censorship controversy, and it's back on Humble even as Steam and Epic refuse to carry it    Latest in Horror Games Please act surprised: Resident Evil Requiem stars Leon Kennedy, and I can't imagine Capcom is too pleased about PlayStation leaking that fact    Not even Hideo Kojima knows what his new horror game OD will be like, but it'll be different from Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding: "I can't say exactly what it is yet, nor do I know if it will work out"    "This still does not compare to the kind of audience we would have on Steam": Horses lead says ban virality helped sales "but we're not out of the woods," and he fears "self-censorship" with future games    Nearly 10 years later, Doom 2 mod Total Chaos is reborn as a standalone horror FPS I'll be playing all winter, and it makes Silent Hill look like a rom-com    Banned horror game Horses now topping GOG's best-seller charts amid censorship controversy, and it's back on Humble even as Steam and Epic refuse to carry it    One week after an acclaimed indie studio said it faces closure following a Steam ban for its surreal horror game, Humble joins Epic in banning Horses at the last minute    Latest in News Horses dev says the banned horror game will still "very likely" be its final project despite publicity    Activision says Call of Duty will no longer get back-to-back Modern Warfare or Black Ops releases    Gladiator star Russell Crowe calls Gladiator 2 "a really unfortunate example" of a sequel not living up to the original    Marvel Rivals Rogue gameplay trailer shows the new mutant stealing everyone's powers    Larian says no Divinity: Original Sin 3 plans as new trademarks suggest Divinity reveal at The Game Awards    Netflix didn't factor "any value" from Warner Bros. Games into deal    GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS

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