Canadian developer LocalThunk, who released one of the main indie hits of 2024 – the poker roguelike Balatro – criticized the European regulator PEGI against the backdrop of the unfair, in his opinion, age rating of the game.
Image source: Playstack
Let us remember that shortly after the release of Balatro, PEGI changed the rating of the project from “3+” to “18+”, seeing elements of gambling in it – despite all the efforts of LocalThunk and the publisher Playstack, the classification is still in force.
The regulator motivates the assignment of an “adult” rating to the game by the fact that Balatro “teaches the skills and knowledge that are used in poker” and, thus, can be applied in real life.
LocalThunk’s will stipulates that Balatro cannot be licensed to promote gambling (image source: Push Square)
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The developer emphasized that in this whole situation he is more concerned not with the “adult” rating of Balatro, but with the “children’s” rating of EA Sports FC 24 and 25. “This is a comedy,” added LocalThunk.
Austria recently changed its mind about recognizing loot boxes in FIFA 23 as a form of gambling (image source: Electronic Arts)
For comparison: the American ESRB assigned Balatro a rating of “from 10 years old,” noting only the gambling theme of the game, and the particularly strict German agency USK approved the project for children over 12 years old.
Rating problems in Europe did not prevent Balatro from becoming a three-time winner of The Game Awards 2024 and selling over 3.5 million copies. The game is available on PC (Steam), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.