LocalThunk‘s addictive and challenging card game, Balatro, has unexpectedly been pulled from some storefronts around the world. The reason? For promoting gambling, though, anyone who’s played the game knows that Balatro does no such thing. That hasn’t stopped some rating boards who originally agreed it wasn’t a game about gambling from changing their minds, though.
In a statement issued by publishers PlayStack, Balatro’s age rating is seemingly being updated in some regions, from ages 3 and up to now 18 and over. This has resulted in the game being pulled from some storefronts, as some regions ban the sale of such games labeled with gambling remarks. The publisher mentioned that the game was created by someone deeply against gambling and promoting it and that this was an issue before release where it originally received an 18 and over age rating, which was later cleared up after explaining to the boards what kind of game Balatro is. They agreed then, though disappointingly, have now gone back on that stance.
— Playstack (@PlaystackGames) March 1, 2024
“To our amazing fans,
We are aware that Balatro has been temporarily removed from sale on a number of digital stores in some countries on console platforms, meaning that some new customers will be unable to buy it. Presently we cannot estimate with complete confidence which stores it will be removed from, but our hope is that only a minority of stores will be affected. We are highly confident that the game will remain available on PC stores, including Steam.
Anyone who has already purchased the game will still be able to play it.
Please rest assured we are working as hard as we can to get the game back on sale as soon as possible.
This is not an issue with the stores themselves, however a reaction to an overnight change to Balatro’s age rating from 3+ to 18+ by a ratings board without any advance warning, due to a mistaken belief that the game “contains prominent gambling imagery and material that instructs about gambling”.
Balatro does not allow or encourage gambling – and we fundamentally believe the ratings decision is unfounded. Balatro was developed by someone who is staunchly anti-gambling, and painstaking care has been taken to ensure that the game does not feature gambling mechanics of any kind.
We are especially disappointed the actions of the ratings board as we specifically addressed this topic with them in October, and were given a 3+ rating after it had initially been rated 18+. During that specific appeal, the ratings board 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 was amended to a 3+.
We continue to be floored by the response to Balatro, including NintendoLife’s latest review which has scored the game 10/10, and we are deeply sorry that some fans will not be able to access the game this weekend.
Please rest assured the game will be back up on sale, possibly with a temporary 18+ rating while we resolve the issue.
We thank you for your patience and support – we are utterly blown away by your passion and belief in Balatro.
— Playstack”
Let’s hope this gets resolved quickly, though, as the studio mentioned, it may mean selling the game with an 18-rated plus for the time being.
Balatro is now available on all major platforms, with a demo also available to try out before you buy.
it says that it’s only temporally delisted from certain digital storefronts.