Controversial horror game Horses is the top-selling new game on GOG even as it gets kicked off the Humble Store one day after launch
www.pcgamer.com
Horses is proving to be something of a surprise hit, at least on the storefronts where you can still buy it.

Currently, only GOG and Itch are still selling this game.

EDIT: It seems the game has returned to Humble Bundle.

  • Kraiden@piefed.socialEnglish
    5611·
    15 hours ago

    content that appears, in our judgment, to depict sexual conduct involving a minor

    I’m assuming they don’t mean a suggestive camera pan, but actually something problematic on screen, in which case, I totally support the ban. Devs were given the opportunity to change it, and they said no. Ban away imho. The fact that this is considered controversial is pretty disturbing to me.

    • REDACTED@infosec.pubEnglish
      101·
      5 hours ago

      I’m almost thru the game and I did not notice any sexual conducts with minors

      EDIT: Btw. Something that I thought was only done for screenshots, but the nudity in-game is censored/pixelated.

      • Kraiden@piefed.socialEnglish
        51·
        9 hours ago

        Yep, I’ve since read some other articles and it seems there’s more to this specific case

        • alehel@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
          1·
          1 hour ago

          There’s been so many vague articles about what happened, I’m not sure we’ll get a clear picture at this point.

    • Mark with a Z@suppo.fiEnglish
      672·
      15 hours ago

      It was a child doing pony play, riding a naked adult man-horse. The dev claimed it was not sexual.

      This was removed later but it’s the build you send for review that gets reviewed. Other stores got a later version, hence why it passed on those.

      Dev was not given a chance to remove it as it turns out steam has a policy that anything that resembles CSAM gets denied permanently.

    • Deestan@lemmy.worldEnglish
      83·
      15 hours ago

      The devs were not told what needed to change even after asking, so they tried to remove anything that they suspected could be taken the wrong way, asked for reconsideration or clarification, but receive no response.

      • KaChilde@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        201·
        11 hours ago

        This is false.

        https://www.eurogamer.net/its-extremely-frustrating-and-also-fcked-up-one-of-the-worlds-best-indie-studios-is-facing-shock-closure-following-confounding-steam-ban

        They submitted to steam, who asked for a preliminary build of the game (one would assume due to concerns about the content). The build provided included a small child reading a naked man like a horse.

        Steam denied the game based on the inclusion of CSAM, and advised the devs directly of this decision in what the devs call “an automated email”, as if steam is out there personally hand writing rejection letters for every failed game out there.

        The devs claim to have changed the scene, but it seems that Steam has a zero-tolerance policy on games that feature CSAM. And, I mean, Fair.

        • douglasg14b@lemmy.worldEnglish
          41·
          8 hours ago

          It seems a stretch to call (at least as far as I understand it), a naked (fictional) underage character riding a horse CSAM? Sure, it’s definitely not in good taste, but… CSAM?

          CSAM is child abuse, there are no children here. Is there a clear line between someone drawing and actual real child abuse? Because, IMHO, there definitely should be.

          I agree that steam shouldn’t allow such content, we don’t want it, but I definitely disagree with the semantics here.

          Or am I missing something obvious??

          • despoticruin@lemmy.zipEnglish
            4·
            7 hours ago

            You are, it wasn’t a horse in the build they sent to Steam, it was a naked man. If you have a naked girl on a horse I think that qualifies too, you have an underage character that’s naked.

      • Kraiden@piefed.socialEnglish
        233·
        15 hours ago

        It’s a direct quote from the article you’re commenting on, and that my opinion is based on.

        But please, don’t let me stop you from attacking my character instead of my argument

        • Arcane2077@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          39·
          12 hours ago

          I was talking about your comment, not the quote. Weird that you assumed otherwise

          “I’m assuming they don’t mean a suggestive camera pan, but actually something problematic on screen, in which case, I totally support the ban. Devs were given the opportunity to change it, and they said no. Ban away imho. The fact that this is considered controversial is pretty disturbing to me.”

          Devs were not given the opportunity to change it as it wasn’t there in the first place