Santa Ragione Announces Departure of Horses Amidst $42,000 Debt

Horses, the surrealist horror game from Santa Ragione, has faced a tough setback after being banned from both the Steam and Epic Games stores, leaving the developer in a $42,000 deficit, as detailed in a recent press release.

Despite the challenges, Horses found a home on GOG, Itch, and Humble, achieving 30,000 sales and generating around $100,000 in revenue. For a small indie studio, that’s a solid performance, especially for a title aimed at a niche audience. However, the financial outcome wasn’t as favorable as it seems, with only $8,000 of that revenue actually reaching Santa Ragione.

In their press release, the studio provided a transparent breakdown of the revenue distribution: $30,000 went to the game’s director, Andrea Lucco Borlera, for his years of dedication; $62,000 was allocated to private investors, covering their initial $50,000 investment and providing a return; and the remaining $8,000 stayed with Santa Ragione, marking the first step toward recovering the $50,000 spent on self-funding development.

A follow-up from Pietro Righi Riva, co-founder and studio director, confirmed that this leaves the studio with a significant $42,000 debt. For a studio of Santa Ragione’s size, this is a considerable amount, and recovering it may prove challenging, especially since the buzz around Horses has likely faded.

This situation raises an intriguing question: would Horses have fared better if it hadn’t been banned from Steam? While it’s hard to say for sure, I’m skeptical. As noted in a review, the game’s brief moment of fame was largely due to its controversial removal from the Steam storefront, and that’s likely the only reason it’s still being discussed in 2026.