Double standards? Balatro is rated 18+, even though it is not a real gambling game, but only a poker simulator
The developer of Balatro, known as LocalThunk, expressed his dissatisfaction on social media with PEGI's decision to raise the age rating of his game to 18+. He compared this to the ratings of other games, such as EA Sports FC, which contain microtransactions and loot boxes but have lower age restrictions.
Here's What We Know
Balatro is a poker roguelike game that teaches players real-life poker combinations and strategies. And PEGI has raised the game's age rating to 18+, arguing that the game can teach skills that can be applied in real poker.
He also joked that maybe he should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower this rating to 3+ like EA Sports FC.
We would like to remind you that Balatro became the best indie game at The Game Awards 2024, and LocalThunk became the lone developer who earned more than $1 million. You can read about other such developers in our material at this link.
Source: @LocalThunk
