Roguelike deck builder Balatro has encountered an issue related to its poker-inspired gameplay and imagery. In some parts of the world, the age rating has changed since the game's release in February, causing the console version of the game to be removed from some online stores, according to Balatro publisher Playstack, which posted a message on twitter Today:
“We are aware that Balatro has been temporarily removed from sale on console platforms in a number of digital stores in some countries, meaning some new customers will not be able to purchase it,” Playstack said. “At this time we cannot estimate with absolute certainty which branches it will be removed from, but we hope that only a minority of branches will be affected.”
The stores mentioned are apparently several Nintendo Switch stores in European countries and Australia. It sounds like PC users have nothing to worry about: “We are very confident that the game will continue to be available on PC stores, including Steam,” Playstack said.
According to Playstack, this is all due to “an overnight change in Balatro's age rating from 3+ to 18+ by a ratings board without notice, due to the erroneous belief that the game contains prominent gambling images and gambling-informative material.”
“Balatro does not permit or promote gambling – and we fundamentally believe the review decision is without merit,” Playstack said. “Balatro was developed by someone who is staunchly anti-gambling, and care has been taken to ensure that the game does not contain any gambling mechanics.”
That's what Balatro's developer LocalThunk told me when we spoke in January. “I’m kind of anti-gambling,” LocalThunk said. “There really are no actual gambling themes in this game. It's based on poker, which is associated with gambling, but the game itself is more based on Big Two, which uses poker hands.” Another source of inspiration for Balatro were roguelikes like Luck Be A Landlord, where you don't fight against monsters fighting or playing against anyone, but just aiming for a high score. LocalThunk isn't even a poker fan, I found out. “I don’t play poker at all,” he said.
On Twitter today, LocalThunk responded to the situation with the following statement: “I do not condone gambling (betting something personally valuable on an uncertain event) nor do I believe that Balatro contains gambling,” he said. “I did add risk/reward mechanics and RNG to Balatro, but these are core mechanics of the genre as a whole.”
Re: Today's Balatro NewsI do not condone gambling (betting something personally valuable on an uncertain event) nor do I believe that Balatro contains gambling. I added risk/reward mechanics and RNG to Balatro, but these are core mechanics of the genre as a wholeMarch 1, 2024
Playstack doesn't name the specific review platform or store, but the UK Nintendo Switch store no longer shows Balatro for sale and links to the previous store page 404. In the US, Nintendo's Switch store still sells Balatro with a rating of 10 + .
A quick look at other stores shows that Balatro's age rating has recently changed. The UK PlayStation and Xbox stores show that Balatro is currently rated “PEGI 18” and is cited for “prominent gambling images.” This is a recent change, however: a web archive search shows that Balatro was rated “PEGI 3” in the UK Xbox Store on February 27th. just three days ago. Balatro is currently rated “Everyone 10+” on the US Xbox Store, noting that it contains “gambling themes”. At February 18th It was simply rated “Everyone” with no gambling warning whatsoever.
The hope is that this is a temporary situation: in a statement about this Game Informersaid a Playstack representative: “Currently, we believe that due to the sudden change in ratings from 3+ to 18+, legitimate automatic protection systems in digital stores have been triggered and, as a result, most Nintendo Switch stores across Europe are also temporarily affected.” in Australia and New Zealand.
On the one hand, I can imagine someone in a review board – let alone parents – being a little suspicious when a game based on poker is deemed kid-friendly. But after just a few minutes of playing Balatro, you realize that this isn't real poker. “I knew that poker would be a really good thematic connection that a lot of people could use as a starting point to understand some of the mechanics of this game,” LocalThunk told me in January.
Most importantly, there is no gambling in Balatro. You're only playing against anything other than a score – there are bosses to defeat, but that only requires you to score above their limit. Nobody else makes poker hands, just you. Balatro is like solitaire with magic. The only “gamble” is that you buy a “Wheel of Fortune” card and have a 1 in 4 chance of making one of your jokers special… and that's not even a game of chance because we all know that the card just says “No!” every damn time.
According to Playstack, the publisher has already gone through this age rating process once. Balatro originally received a rating of 18+, but after an objection from the editor, the rating was revised to 3+. “During this particular appeal, the review panel assured us: 'We have reviewed your product and determined that the disclosure of gambling themes was unwarranted.' The game content has not changed since the age rating changed to 3+,” said Playstack.
We are keeping an eye on the situation and will inform you if there are any further developments. For those who purchased the game from stores it has since been removed from, you can still play it, Playstack says. “Please be assured that the game will be available for sale again, possibly with a temporary 18+ rating, while we resolve the issue.”
