The creator of popular deck-building poker inspired game Balatro has taken legal steps to ensure his creation can never be used to promote actual gambling.
Balatro is a roguelike that challenges players to earn an ever increasing number of chips by playing joker-enhanced cards to overcomes the challenges set by opponents known as ‘blinds’ and final round bosses.
Despite being steeped in gambling terminology and luck-based gameplay mechanics, there are no real-world gambling elements in the game, or even microtransactions for that matter. Creator LocalThunk has now said on X/Twitter that he has taken action to ensure Balatro can never be used to promote actual gambling by solidifying it in his will.
From the outside this might make 0 sense but I hate the thought of Balatro becoming a true gambling game so much that when I recently created my will I stipulated that the Balatro IP may never be sold or licensed to any gambling company/Casino https://t.co/svKdhgjjm4
— localthunk (@LocalThunk) August 6, 2024
“From the outside this might make zero sense but I hate the thought of Balatro becoming a true gambling game so much that when I recently created my will I stipulated that the Balatro IP may never be sold or licensed to any gambling company or casino,” wrote LocalThunk.
The comment came in response to a user who joked Balatro was being used to introduce younger generations to gambling, and this isn’t the first time LocalThunk or publisher Playstack have had to refute such claims.
Balatro was temporarily removed from sale on a number of digital storefronts including the Nintendo Switch store shortly after its February 20, 2024 launch, when concerns surrounding gambling themes led a rating board to increase the game’s age rating from 3+ to 18+.
“I do not condone gambling (staking something personally valuable on an uncertain event) nor do I believe that Balatro contains gambling,” wrote LocalThunk in a March X/Twitter post responding to the rating board decision. “I did add risk/reward mechanics and random number generation to Balatro, but these are core mechanics to the genre at large.”
In IGN’s 9/10 review, we described Balatro as “the sort of fun that threatens to derail whole weekend plans as you stay awake far too late staring into the eyes of a jester tempting you in for just one more run.”
Update: This story’s headline has been updated to clarify that Balatro’s creator is very much alive.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
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