If you've been keeping up with gaming news over the past few months, you won't be shocked to hear that LocalThunk's innovative blend of solitaire, roguelike, and deck-building, known as Balatro, has now surpassed five million sales across all platforms. Since its launch, Balatro has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including several prestigious awards from our team for its mobile version.
While it's easy to compare these figures with other games in terms of downloads and player counts, it's important to highlight two significant aspects of Balatro's success. Firstly, this is the work of a solo developer, and secondly, all these sales are premium, directly benefiting the developer and publisher Playstack.
This milestone is especially remarkable when you consider these factors. While we don't have exact numbers on mobile sales, we know that since December, when the game reached 3.5 million sales, it has added another 1.5 million during its run on mobile devices.
Place your betsIt would be unfair to single out Balatro as the sole indie success story on mobile, given the plethora of other great releases on the platform. However, Balatro is undoubtedly one of the most high-profile successes, particularly considering the journey it has taken to achieve such popularity. The long-term sales trajectory remains to be seen, especially as the game continues to receive crossover updates and more content.
The question now is whether Balatro's success will boost confidence among both average mobile players and industry professionals in pushing more indie games to mobile platforms. Here's hoping it does.
If you're interested in our take on Balatro, take a look at our review to see why it earned a resounding five-star rating from us.
