Balatro secured the award for the Best Indie Game of 2024 at The Game Awards, a success that came just after the game shipped more than 3.5 million units. It has been a great year for Balatro, which was pieced together by a solo developer by the name of ‘LocalThunk’.
Recently, LocalThunk took to social media to rue the PEGI ratings change that was applied mere weeks after the game hit the market in February 2024. On Twitter, he compared Balatro to games like EA Sports FC, suggesting that he could drop his 18+ rated game to a 3+ rating if he added loot boxes and microtransactions to his game.
‘The Red Logo Looks Kinda Dope’
It’s worth stressing that LocalThunk doesn’t disagree with the 18+ PEGI rating that was given to his game in March 2024. He’s more ‘irked’ by the games that are given a lower rating despite having similar – or ‘worse’ – mechanics.
He uses EA Sports FC as an example, pointing out that they feature real gambling in the form of loot boxes and other, similar microtransactions. For the longest time, courts worldwide have debated the existence and purpose of loot boxes, and some territories have banned them entirely.
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
After posting this message on Twitter (now ‘X’), LocalThunk wrote:
Just to clear it up – I’m way more irked at the 3+ for these games with actual gambling mechanics for children than I am about Balatro having an 18+ rating
If these other games were rated properly I’d happily accept the weirdo 18+.
The red logo looks kinda dope
On the PEGI platform, the strong rating is justified by saying:
This game teaches – by way of images, information and gameplay – skills and knowledge that are used in poker. During gameplay, the player is rewarded with ‘chips’ for playing certain hands.
The player is able to access a list of poker hand names. As the player hovers over these poker hands, the game explains what types of cards the player would need in order to play certain hands. 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.
Balatro is one of 2024’s strongest games, and it has pulled in remarkable reviews throughout the year.
Do you think there’s an inherent issue with games like EA Sports FC receiving such low ratings despite featuring loot box-like mechanics? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that CS2 has hit a new peak player count
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