The creator of the hit video game Balatro had already made it known he is not a gambler, despite the game’s poker theme. On Tuesday, “localthunk” came out even more strongly against gambling, saying that he has put in his will that the Balatro IP may not be sold to a gambling company.
Released in February 2024, Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder in which the goal is to defeat computer opponents by making poker hands to score points. It is not a poker game and there is absolutely no gambling involved – it only uses poker as a vehicle. The cards and poker hands are worth points, but the real strategy involves the use of Jokers and card power-ups, which can create synergies to build points totals to insane heights.
Balatro is an infinitely replayable game that has excited players who have a blast finding new card synergies and strategies to overcome even the most daunting challenges and get that scoreboard churning. And like in poker, there is some luck involved, as you never quite know what cards you might see.
Speaking with PCGamer shortly after Balatro was released, localthunk admitted that he doesn’t play poker at all.
a way to kind of make the whole thing feel cohesive”
“I knew that poker would be a really good thematic tie-in that a lot of people could use as a launching point to understand some of the mechanics in this game,” he explained. “I could use the terminology in poker, I could use some of the visuals like blinds and antes and chips, and stuff like that, as a way to kind of make the whole thing feel cohesive. But I don’t play poker. I don’t really care very much about poker.”
Shortly after it was released, Balatro was mistakenly pulled from some video game consoles’ online stores because of the incorrect impression that it encouraged gambling, resulting in being rated for older age groups than it should have been. Publisher Playstack called the ratings decision “unfounded” and said: “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.”
