I want to start by making one thing absolutely clear: contacting anyone involved with Horse Fable through their personal life, attempting to obtain private information, or crossing boundaries outside of the game is unacceptable. I do not condone harassment of Curly, Bedouin, current staff, former staff, or anyone else involved.

That being said, I am extremely disappointed by the rest of this announcement, and I don't believe concerns about the direction of Horse Fable should be dismissed or conflated with the actions of individuals who crossed those boundaries.

One of the most concerning revelations here is that Bedouin has continued to perform development work for Horse Fable after the sale and will now apparently remain the game's developer indefinitely. Regardless of the contractual reasons behind why this arrangement began, this is significant information for a community that believed Horse Fable had changed ownership and was moving into a new chapter.

I understand the distinction being made between ownership, management, and contracted development. Bedouin may have no ownership interest or authority over the direction of the game. However, development is still an enormous part of a live game's operation. The person maintaining and implementing the code has a substantial role in what players ultimately experience (I'm literally in Game Development school so I know). For players who had serious concerns about Horse Fable under the previous ownership, learning that the former owner has remained responsible for code development — and that the search for a replacement developer has now ended — is understandably upsetting.

I am also deeply uncomfortable with the decision to remove virtually the entire staff because it is unknown who may have shared information outside internal channels. The announcement itself acknowledges that innocent staff members have been caught in the crossfire. Protecting personal safety is completely reasonable, but removing an entire staff because the responsible individual or individuals cannot be identified is an extraordinary response and raises serious questions about internal management, trust, and how this situation was handled.

There is also a broader transparency issue here. Players financially support Horse Fable through subscriptions, currency purchases, events, and other paid content. That does not entitle players to confidential contracts or anyone's private life, but I do believe it is reasonable for paying players to expect transparency about major operational decisions that materially affect the future of the game. Who owns the game, who manages it, and who is responsible for its ongoing development are not insignificant details.

I appreciate that this information is being shared now, but I am disappointed that it took circumstances this serious for the community to learn about the ongoing development arrangement. Finding out only now that Bedouin has continued working on Horse Fable — and that this arrangement is becoming permanent — makes it difficult to feel confident that players have had an accurate understanding of how the game has been operating since the sale.

I also sympathize with burnout and understand the need to step away. Nobody should sacrifice their health or personal safety for a game. At the same time, when someone takes responsibility for operating a live service supported financially by a community, decisions regarding staffing, development, communication, and long-term planning inevitably affect that community. Players should be able to express dissatisfaction with those decisions without that criticism being treated as harassment.

I want Horse Fable to succeed. That is precisely why this is so frustrating. I care about the game enough to be concerned about who is developing it, how it is being managed, and whether the community is being given an accurate picture of its future.

Harassment is unacceptable. Crossing someone's personal boundaries is unacceptable. But respectful criticism, disappointment, and demands for better transparency are not harassment, and I hope that distinction is maintained moving forward.

I'm so sorry for you, you've been through so much and harassment doesn't solve anything. I joined a few months after you took over and honestly I feel like the game is great! You deserve a break!

For the Bedouin situation I kind of agree with some comments. I looked around on the Discord server and I watched multiple videos from Rattle about the game, and genuinely, I could feel the hurt and aggression in most people's messages before you took over. While I was never part of the community at that time, anyone can see the amount of hurt Bedouin has caused.

I'm not saying everyone is right or everyone is wrong. People aren't 100% right and people aren't 100% wrong. We are humans, we are never perfect.

After reading those messages from the past, to be completely honest even I feel a bit betrayed? While I haven't contributed to much in the game, in my honest opinion knowing Bedouin was part of the dev team all along… I don't know how to feel. Whatever the reasons may be as to why you decided to keep Bedouin, whether it was financial, personal, whatever, I can't judge, we're all humans and we make mistakes sometimes. However I can't see the benefit in keeping the person that has caused all this hurt and hatred, and that has caused a LOT of people to quit.

I bought the subscription 3 months ago because I want the game to go well. I am a student but I live comfortably, and I bought the subscription because the community is quite small, therefore funds are still quite limited. But learning Bedouin was behind this... I don't know what I will do. For now, I will keep my subscription active and I will not physically unsubscribe until I genuinely feel disappointed in the game. To be completely honest I have noticed that ever since a couple months lag has started to creep back in, and there are a lot more art bugs than there used to be (on top of a couple other persistent bugs). Maybe it's unrelated, and the game is possibly 1 update away from being lag-free again.

Seeing Forgotten's message, I feel sorry that all the helpers left. The helpers you had added, Forgo, Redd, Famine, Cali, and a bunch of other ones I can't remember because there were so many, really made the game and especially the Discord server feel alive. I remember when looking back at messages pre-ownership change how much the server was… much more silent.

Learning Bedouin was behind the scenes all along leaves me a bitter taste even if I haven't experienced it myself, however I still genuinely feel like there has been a lot of good and potentially controversial changes. I still believe in the future of the game even after this whole debacle.

As for the mystery harasser, you know better than to harass people. While I understand you wanted answers, going to this extent is NEVER okay.

I hope that this break will benefit you, Curly, and I hope to see what the game changes will be like after the holidays.

I left years ago when Eqcetera was moving into V2. The game was unplayable, and I do remember Bed acting rude and entitled. I had put a fair bit of money into the game at that point, and the way she acted was off putting. But I have no idea what happened after that. Though I can certainly feel a lot of pain and betrayal in these messages from people who stuck around through the rough patches.

I came back 3 weeks ago because Google alerted me to a data breach saying my passwords had been leaked for this website and others. When I saw Eqcetera pop up, I thought I’d come check it out to see if it was still around. EDIT: After receiving a concerned message from another player, I want to clarify that the data breach is unrelated to Hofa. 6 of my passwords from other websites had been leaked, all totally unrelated to Hofa. There's no reason to believe your own accounts aren't safe. It's more likely that I used a stupid password that was easy to guess.

It really is amazing how much better this game is looking since I left. The mechanics of breeding etc are great, and the art is beautiful. 

I will keep my premium subscription for now. I want to support this game, and Curly’s passion for HoFa is evident. She’s brought this game to life again.

If Curly signed some kind of NDA that prevented her from talking about certain things, then that’s a legal boundary she can’t cross. I think she deserves some grace in regards to that. 

And if finding a replacement for Bed was proving too difficult or too expensive…what is she supposed to do about that? Dismiss Bed without a replacement…? And then what? Developers are VERY expensive. Our little community probably can’t support that financially at this point.

Those of you who are feeling hurt are totally within your right to feel that way. I’m not meaning to be dismissive at all. But there is also a practical side to this that needs to be considered.

Let’s just plod along with our pixel ponies for a while, enjoy our Christmas breaks, and let the dust settle.

Give Curly a chance to take a break, and come back to this situation with a clear mind. It sounds like a very complicated situation for her to navigate and she’s doing her best.

EDIT: With that said, I'm not super thrilled at the idea of my hard earned money going into Bed's pocket. I don't know why she acted the way she did, and I don't remember the details tbh. However, I can certainly remember times in my life when I was extremely burnout and stressed and I wasn't the best version of myself either. None of us are perfect. I don't know if Bed ever took responsibility for her actions and/or apologised to people she hurt. Or if it was just swept under the rug… which is unfortunately what many people do when they've treated others badly…

I am going to try to answer questions and touch on as much as possible here. I am currently underslept and slow of mind so bear with me.

First, I totally get folks being upset. I really do. I know it would have been a much more welcome outcome to have found someone else to do the code work. After a year search and having had a year of consistent updates, keeping the code work with Bedouin was the best option. I can only do what's best for the game and that has been to move progress forward. Just stopping all work and letting HoFa rot was not an option. All of this has been explained above but I want to reiterate here since folks have commented about this. 

Second, I can only fix or work on issues I know to be problems. I don’t recall the pressure of working with the community being discussed with me. If it was and I failed you I am so sorry. If anyone felt pressured by their staff position I am sincerely sorry there too. I was not aware of any of this. I’m going to be very open and honest about how I see it from my end. I have never demanded anyone's time and have always left the volunteer staff positions to be completed as fully or not as someone has time, energy, and desire to do. Volunteer staff can fill that role as they see fit for themselves. I can only conclude you felt as though you had to be the one to fix, organize, and interact with players to keep that from coming to me. I am sorry if that is what has happened and wish you felt comfortable pushing more my way. I’ve always been open about feedback and ensuring everyone's needs are met. I’ve always been open to breaks and scaling back as needed. We’re human and can’t perform at 100% all the time! All of this has been noted.

I believe development has been very successful in the last year. The proof is in the bug box and the success we have had at implementing feature requests, ideas from helpers/community, and fixing any issues we ran into in this process. As with any fixes or changes, you do run into problems but those problems have always been fixed. To put it in the open:

• I work in weekly sprints and begin plans yearly, quarterly and then refine details at the monthly mark. I use the bug box, feature requests, community, and any lingering documents to do this.
• HoFa helpers have always been welcome to bring things to my attention, of which they often did! I’ve always been thankful to them for this because it has been extremely helpful. The best way I could figure to keep this organized was having a document helpers could work in. I worked off this document where folks could put any questions, concerns, or things they had found. Those things were then integrated into the weekly sprints and planning as needed.
• My weekly goal has been to fix as many bugs as possible as well as add at least 3 QoL or new things. Bug fixes are great but the game needed some TLC in other areas. I can only make so many fixes and changes happen at a time. I know from years of experience that the desire to fix everything at once causes a HUGE mess and you’re left looking at a 8 page list of to-dos and you have no idea where to start. This is why when I bought HoFa I made 100% sure to take the disorganized pile and “eat it a bite at a time” as the saying goes. In doing so, I have concluded the speed in which somethings have been fixed or changed has been frustrating.
• When things change I often ask the community and helpers for input and took what I saw could work and run with it. In doing so I know not everything was/is done how some folks wanted it to be or how they thought it should be. An example of this was the move to the new image system to speed up the site. There was no other option to solve that problem other than move to the new system. I got a lot of push back on this from the helpers on this and I will say I am to blame for not explaining the “why” of that well. We aren’t limited by our code ability in any way, we do however have to work within many constraints. As noted above, the new image system is a learning curve for myself but slowly that is becoming less of an issue per image fixes. 
• Often with changes I work on everything myself. Again, I have always had 0 expectations that someone else do any kind of work beyond what they are willing to do. I’m used to planning, wireframing, translating concepts and testing all on my own which is a very big lift. I have never wanted anyone else to feel the strain of doing that thus, sometimes no one else was consulted beyond the information I already had been given or collected. When I needed help I would ask for it. Be that with testing, refining ideas, or clarifying a request. 

Over the last year of ownership I have realized being so open to development ideas does come with an obvious downside. Some folks won't be happy with the change(s) or think things should be done a different way. As the owner of the site it’s my job to collect information, plan within constraints and budget, and make decisions to move development forward. I have always, and will always, develop HoFa based on the desires of the playerbase while making edits to those changes as needed. 

I have been very grateful to the staff for all of the work they have done and have tried to show that in various ways. I know it has been shocking to be out of that position so suddenly but given what happened, I can not take any chances. That said, I have left the staff benefit of the forever platinum subscriptions on everyone's account. However, the upcoming planned staff pet companions are now TBD. 

Lastly, I know some of you are asking about HoFas future. I apologize for the confusion. The art team will stay as they are and will continue their work as planned. No one from the art team has been removed from staff. Beyond the art team the plan has been and still is:

• October: Horse Fabool Bash + Bug fixes + QoL changes + Art updates
• November: New player experience + feature request review + Art + QoL changes
• December: Winter Holiday events and items + Staff break + 2027 planning
• 2027: Feature requests + Systemic gameplay QoL changes. Ex. Boarding/training

Thank you to everyone for your comments, voicing concerns, and questions etc.. Hopefully this has cleared up a few things. I will be away for a bit but am checking in as I can.

So sorry this happened. Thank you HoFa team and all your hard work. Thank you too Curly, and take advantage of your break. Just remember we all have bumps in the road!

Hi Curly and friends. I've tried to take my time and find my words before posting. 

A very sudden removal from staff was definitely a shock and disheartening. I would have very much appreciated a staff meeting, or even a direct message. I feel as though I've never shyed away from being honest with you. I understand the need to feel safe, however. So I don't fault you on that. 

I'm also both disturbed and disgusted by whoever decided it was appropriate to reach out outside the bounds of Hofa. I'm sorry that's happened, and I hope whoever it was excuses themself (or themselves) from the community. We don't want or need that sort of person around.

I felt very proud to be a part of staff, and had it in my heart to do my best to better the community and help wherever I could. I feel as though I fulfilled my job, and did what was asked of me as a mod. My dad passed away in August of last year, and while my world was upside down, Hofa kept me grounded and gave me space to focus on pixel ponies instead of the hellscape of reality. 

I am however very disappointed to find out Bedouin is still involved with the game. My view of Bedouin was deeply molded and shaped by your words, Curly - how you said she'd hurt you, abused staff, and was consistently inconsistent and dismissive of both yourself and other previous staff members. Correct me if I'm wrong, but contracted means paid, yes? While I'm unable to search right now, I believe a lot of the older player base made it very clear that we were financially supporting Hofa *because* Bedouin was no longer involved. After the months of ankle biting just to get the things we'd already paid for, it definitely doesn't feel.. great. I felt the way I did about Bedouin because of the abuse *you* described, and was never corrected even when the *incident* was repeatedly brought up. If we wouldn't have anklebit, would the game have been sold? If you'd just said something about reconciliation outside the bounds of the game, even if at that point the NDA was restrictive.. all we had was information from Rattle's videos, and your own words and screenshots regarding her behavior. That Bedouin had run your Google drive through an AI, that you felt abused, that you felt Bedouin had refused to listen to both staff and you; allowing you to take the brunt of community complaints and anger regarding missing campaign art and other features that weren't delivered on. We saw her through your words and our own experiences, and we were angry for you, for the state of our favorite game, and for what we believed was wasted money and an endless cycle that had become commonplace. After reading your response, I understand the thought process of having Bedouin continue to code. I can respect refusing to let the game rot. But I also understand the feelings of betrayal and confusion. 

I appreciate the time, energy, money, sweat, and tears you've put into hofa. While being on the wiki team, we had requested direction and feedback on a regular basis - maybe that wasn't communicated clearly enough? A few of us dumped a ton of hours into trying to do what was asked of us, but found it almost impossible to find our footing and make any headway in our designated positions, which resulted in progress fizzling down to nothing. It was extremely frustrating and put all of us also in a state of burn out. With Cali at the helm of community manager, we felt like we had gained some ground, but again felt very stuck and unable to make progress. It's not that we felt like you were breathing down our necks or cracking a whip at us, we felt obligated because we were put into a job that we felt we were unable to do without leadership. I wish whoever is on the team going forward success and clarity as they move forward with that project! 

I volunteered to help with clipping color layers, and I'd do it again. I was and still am happy to lend my time to benefit the game that's been my crutch through my darkest days. I can give grace that there was an NDA regarding game activities behind the scenes - I won't pretend to understand how the goings on behind the scenes work. I hope to see a better era of Hofa going forward, and hope the break is beneficial to you. 

Edited to add: I was curious when you mentioned lifetime plat subscriptions, because I've checked my bank statements - I have been paying for all three of my accounts' subs. Looks like the one I had for being a helper expired in August. Which is fine, I volunteered my time - I just don't want it to seem like I'm still benefiting or receiving something for free. You're welcome to DM me for those screenshots if you'd like. 

Wow, I'm sorry this happened. I think people need to remember this is a game and although it fun it should never cross a personal line. 

Maybe the game should be 18+. So much drama going on with entitled teenagers who think they are entitled to private information. It always seems to be the teens. There's always drama with Star Stable too, and it's always the teens. Always. The parents aren't parenting. Quit making stuff up to be mad about because your life is boring. We have enough going on.

I’m sorry to hear you’re being harassed in your private life, Curly. That is unacceptable.

But regarding the other issue: I came back to the game because I believed we were finally rid of Bedouin. And now I read that Bedouin is still coding/developing and will continue working on the game permanently and is getting paid, too.

I have now lost all trust and certainly won't be investing any more money in the game, because personally, I don't want Bedouin to get even a single cent of my money.

For the next time, I’m going to take a break from the game and consider whether I’ll come back at all. I also don't like the new art of some of my favorite breeds.

I don't speak English very well and used a translator; I hope I’ve managed to express myself clearly nonetheless.

@Amity your comment made me laugh so hard 😅 like yeah teenagers are problematic, but as someone that has played horse games my whole life and been around irl horse stables, its always adults that are the ones to stir the pot. The teens just learn it from them.