Rogueliker

Balatro removed from stores after ratings board jokers have change of heart, Mac version still lands on Steam

2nd March 2024

Regular readers will already know all about Balatro, the Poker-themed roguelike that continues to destroy pretty much all of my free time.

The game had been widely available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox since late February, however, it seems that a sudden change of heart from a ratings board has caused the game to be temporarily removed from sale on certain digital store fronts.

The news come to us via a post shared by publisher Playstack, where the situation was explained in detail. Apparently the unnamed ratings board had a change of heart with regards to the game’s previously agreed 3+ age rating, and reverted to a previous rating of 18+.

Those who’ve already got the game will be able to continue playing, and it sounds like work is going on behind the scenes to have the situation reversed and the game returned to sale on all stores.

Update (March 7th): In an interview with Rogueliker, Balatro developer LocalThunk explained that “I think the ratings boards reassessed Balatro after the game had such a successful launch and determined that the content of the game was evocative enough of gambling that it warranted an 18+ rating.”

“While I don’t believe my game contains any actual gambling, since you can’t stake anything of personal value on an uncertain event (like paid lootboxes, for example), I think they were likely looking at the thematic tie-ins to poker which do have gambling connotation (Antes, Stakes, Chips).”

Sad times for new players, unless you own a Mac

It’s not all doom and gloom for hopeful Balatro players: now you can add Mac to the list of platforms upon which this masterful game can be enjoyed. Huzzah for Mac owners, I say!

There a more tidbits to tell you about, too. The big one is for Steam players, who now can unlock trading cards for the game – good news if you’re into that sort of thing. While we’re talking about Steam, the game is also now Steam Deck verified!

Developer LocalThunk has also been hard at work fixing things and squashing rare bugs, and to that end we’ve already seen two patches on PC (no doubt they’ll be rolled out on consoles eventually, it always takes longer though). Details here.

Finally, I think it’s worth ending on a positive note: Balatro sold 250k copies in 72 hours, and apparently it was profitable with one hour of being on sale. In fact, it made $1 million dollars in around eight hours, according to a feature over on GamesIndustry.

If after all that you want more, check out my review for a more detailed examination of the game!

Would you like to know more?

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