Does Horses Warrant All This Controversy? | Kurt & Lucy Gotcha Covered

Quick Overview

The controversy surrounding the game "Horses" primarily centers on its banning from storefronts like Steam and Epic Games, which the hosts argue is less about the game's adult content (which they deem comparable to other existing adult media) and more about the undue influence of payment processors and major platforms like Steam in dictating content distribution.

Key Points: The game "Horses" faced a preemptive ban from Steam and a subsequent ban from Epic Games on its release day, despite Humble, Itch, and Gogg agreeing to distribute it. The developers speculate the ban stems from early builds that included a scene with naked men and women wearing masks on a farm, and a removed scene involving a child riding a horse. Lucy notes that all nudity in "Horses" is blood-related and any sexual content is implied and never explicitly shown, contrasting it with other problematic games available on Steam. Kurt highlights Steam's massive market share (around 70% for PC) and points out its hypocrisy, as it allows other problematic content like "Hitler games" but bans "Horses" without open discussion. The hosts suggest the real warranted controversy lies with payment processors pressuring storefronts to drop games that do not reflect "good values," giving them dictatorial power. The hosts muse that "Horses" may have been singled out because it does not fit neatly into existing categories of games that the censors target. John Luke summarized Metroid Prime 4 as "Good Prime game, bad Metroid Vania" in six words, later refining it to three words: "Great."

Context: The podcast episode of "Kurt & Lucy Got You Covered" discusses several major gaming news items, dedicating significant time to the controversy surrounding the game "Horses," which was banned from major PC storefronts. The hosts, Kurt and Lucy, delve into the game's edgy nature, its removal from Steam and Epic Games, and use this event to critique the broader issues of digital storefront censorship, platform power, and the role of payment processors in content moderation.