Summary
- In August, PEGI rated Balatro 18+.
- The ratings board argued this was because it teaches poker hands which could be used in real life.
- Developer LocalThunk hits back, pointing out that games with loot boxes are rated as appropriate for children as young as three.
Balatro was hit with an 18+ rating by PEGI back in August, making it available to adults only. The reason given for this is that it features “prominent gambling imagery”, even though no real money – or a microcurrency purchased with real money – is gambled in the process.
Now, Balatro developer LocalThunk has hit back. On Twitter, LocalThunk points out that EA Sports FC 25, which includes a form of loot boxes, is rated suitable for players aged three and above. He argues that Ultimate Team Packs are “actual gambling mechanics”, and that PEGI is allowing them to be sold to children.
LocalThunk Calls Out PEGI
The Balatro developer takes issue with games that have loot boxes and microtransactions being rated as suitable for children
“Since PEGI gave us an 18+ rating for having evil playing cards maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating to 3+ like EA sports FC,” jokes LocalThunk, before adding, “This is comedy”.
He clarified that he doesn’t mind Balatro’s 18+ rating so much, more so that he takes issue with EA Sports FC 25 being listed as suitable for players three and above. This is despite many complaining that there are concerning similarities between loot boxes and gambling, with one study concluding that microtransactions are “structurally and psychologically akin to gambling.” Another study found that loot boxes were causing children “financial and emotional harm”.
The PEGI website goes into further detail on why it gave Balatro an 18+ rating, reading:
This game teaches – by way of images, information and gameplay – skills and knowledge that are used in poker. […] As the game goes on, the player becomes increasingly familiar with which hands would earn more points. Because these are hands that exist in the real world, this knowledge and skill could be transferred to a real-life game of poker.
In any case, Balatro has proven to be a huge success. After gaining a huge following online, it was nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. It lost out to Astro Bot in the end, but picked up the awards for Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game.
Balatro takes the classic card game of poker and adds roguelike gameplay, using Joker cards with various abilities to build your deck and attempt to defeat pesky blinds.