Balatro took the world by storm in 2024. The game won three awards at this year’s The Game Awards and is among the very best on Opencritic, the review aggregator.
Because it is partly based on poker, the censorship body PEGI recently decided to impose an advisory age rating of 18 for the game. Developer Localthunk is not pleased with this.
In a message on Twitter/X, the solo developer fired a broadside towards PEGI. In particular, he distances himself from what he perceives as hypocrisy.
– Since PEGI gave us an 18 rating because we have naughty playing cards, maybe I should add microtransactions, loot boxes, and real gambling to get a 3 rating just like EA Sports FC.
Balatro is only inspired by the rules of poker and offers no form of gambling. Nonetheless, PEGI states that the game teaches skills and knowledge used in poker, which is seen as more dangerous than endless promotion of in-game purchases.
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– Just to make it clear. I am much more irritated by the 3 rating for these games with actual gambling mechanics for kids than I am that Balatro gets an 18 rating. If these other games received a fair age rating, I would gladly accept the 18 rating. The red logo is quite cool, Localthunk added.
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