Summary
- Balatro has seen a resurgence in player count post-The Game Awards, nearly breaking its concurrent player record.
- The game peaked at 37,737 players in February, falling just short of beating that record recently with 37,493 players.
- The increase in players is attributed to attention from Geoff Keighley’s showcase and holiday purchases, keeping hope alive for breaking the record.
Balatro is comfortably one of 2024’s best games. It ranked second in my personal top ten of the year and the same for TheGamer’s game of the year top ten.
The game has been undergoing somewhat of a resurgence since The Game Awards, where it was nominated for five awards, picking up three but missing out on the top prize to Astro Bot. Every day since the early December event, Balatro’s player count has increased on Steam, starting at around 14,000 and rising to over 37,000 on Boxing Day.
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How To Talk To Your Family About Balatro This Holiday Season
The secret is to make it sound so boring they don’t want to steal your phone to play it.
Unfortunately, however, the game fell agonizingly short of breaking its concurrent player record, with only around 250 players needed to beat it.
Balatro Comes So Close To Beating Its Peak Player Count
Balatro peaked at 37,737 players on February 28 this year, around a week after it launched. Yesterday, despite calls from Balatro’s PR maestro Wout, Balatro fell just short of beating that record, with, according to SteamCharts, 37,493 players jumping into the game at the same time—only 244 away from breaking the record.
The increase in player count is likely due to the attention it received at Geoff Keighley’s yearly showcase, combined with players purchasing the game for friends and family over the holiday period.
It’s a shame the game’s solo developer, LocalThunk, couldn’t beat the record, but with the player count increasing daily, there’s still a chance.
LocalThunk was well aware that the game had hundreds of new players over the festive period, so decided to share a piece of advice with them. They said, “I’ll answer what surely is your first question about the game: Yes, Wheel of Fortune really is 1 in 4.”
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.