Frequent readers (and why wouldn't you be?) may recall one of the more oddball stories from last year involving Balatro, the roguelike deckbuilder, which was initially classified as PEGI 18 by rating boards. This put it on the same level of content as games like Grand Theft Auto, which naturally baffled many people, including the developer.
However, it seems that PEGI has recognized their error and reclassified Balatro to the more appropriate PEGI 12 rating. According to developer Localthunk, who shared the news on Twitter, this change came about in part due to an appeal made by Balatro's publisher to the ratings board.
This isn't the first time Balatro has faced challenges from external organizations. It was also briefly pulled from the Nintendo eShop due to concerns over perceived gambling content. This is despite the fact that players cannot actually win real money or place bets, with in-game currency used only as an abstract means to purchase more cards within each run.
As mentioned earlier, one of the key reasons Balatro received such a high classification was due to its depiction of gambling-adjacent imagery. Essentially, the concern was that someone might learn what a straight flush or a flush is from playing the game.
This situation is frustrating, especially because Balatro's initial classification extended to platforms like mobile, despite the prevalence of in-app transactions across many apps. While it's better late than never for the rating to be corrected, the initial misclassification should not have occurred in the first place.
If this news is finally persuading you to give Balatro a try, why not check out our tier list of Jokers? It will help you discover which of these game-changing cards are worth your time and which ones you might want to skip.
