Santa Ragione’s Horses was the subject of multiple headlines ahead of its release as Steam – one of if not the biggest digital PC storefronts – refused to distribute the game. Then, just before its release, it was also banned from the Epic storefront. This all put the studio into jeopardy, with founder Pietro Righi Riva telling Eurogamer it could face closure if Horses didn’t sell well.

Horses has now been out for a couple of weeks, and there is finally some good news for Santa Ragione. The studio has announced its game, in which players tend to a farm of naked humans in horse masks, has sold over 18k copies. In terms of income, that is “approximately $65,000 in net revenue”, Santa Ragione said. This means the studio has generated enough to repay the loans it took out in order to finish developing the game, as well as the royalties owed to Horses creator Andrea Lucco Borlera.

“We are extremely grateful to players and to everyone who supported the release by sharing the game and amplifying what happened around it. Paying our debts is a success, and we are relieved,” the studio said.

However, while of course great news for the team, this still isn’t enough to secure Santa Ragione’s future, and the company has not yet made enough from Horses to begin working on a new game. “If sales remain steady, we may be able to fund a new prototype in the future, but the team has had to, and will continue to, take other jobs and projects in the meantime,” the studio explained today. “Reuniting everyone will not be easy, even if it is something we would love.”

So, while the debut of Horses has “been meaningful and positive in important ways”, the fragmented road to release – which along with Steam’s controversial ban has also included delays, and key team members taking on additional work elsewhere – has still been damaging for the studio.

“While the launch of Horses compares very favourably to our most recent launches on Steam, Steam’s economics rely heavily on multi-year long tail sales and, for our past projects, on Steam key distribution through bundles, which has also lately been restricted for low-selling titles,” Santa Ragione said. “These structural differences are why a strong two week result on smaller storefronts does not tell us what a full Steam release could have looked like.”

Santa Ragione closed today’s news by taking aim at Valve, which faced ‘censorship’ criticisms from developers and players following its decision to not distribute Horses on Steam. Santa Ragione is still unsure of the exact specific reason that Valve decided to eschew Horses.

“We want to emphasise that this outcome should not distract from the broader issue at stake: the need for clearer rules, transparent processes, and meaningful accountability from near monopolistic distribution platforms and the systems they enforce,” Santa Ragione said.

“For every case like Horses that becomes visible, there are many more games that are quietly banned, delisted, or trapped in indefinite review for unclear reasons, with developers too worried about retaliation or future approval to speak publicly.

“We are grateful to the journalists and outlets who have reported, and who will continue to report, on these cases.”

Horses was initially announced back in 2023, with a suitably unsettling trailer which showed off the game’s silent movie-like style and a host of naked humans with horse masks on their heads. At this time, it was slated for a release in 2024, though this was delayed into 2025, before it finally released in November.

“Santa Ragione delivers a subversive, sometimes shocking, often funny first-person narrative horror that, while perhaps a little insubstantial, remains an engagingly unconventional exploration of some timely themes,” reads Eurogamer’s four star Horses review.