Balatro: Hit Poker-Style Video Game Loses 18+ Rating in Europe
The video game Balatro, which draws inspiration from poker, has seen its age rating reduced from 18+ to 12+ by PEGI, the European body responsible for rating video game content.
Balatro, which requires players to create poker hands while leveraging unique joker cards to enhance scores, was among the top successes of 2024. However, PEGI’s choice to impose an adults-only rating on the game—while the US equivalent ESRB rated it for ages 10 and up—caused confusion for many.
Gambling Visuals
PEGI stated that Balatro includes “notable gambling visuals” and conveys “knowledge and skill [that] might be applied to an actual poker game.”
This is true even though the game does not include any real gambling or in-game purchases at all. This differs from EA Sports FC, the replacement for the FIFA series, which ranks among the most popular games globally and has a 3+ PGEI rating.
EA Sports FC enables players to buy loot boxes with in-game or real currency for a chance to randomly acquire soccer players or items that aid in their advancement. This aspect of the game is prohibited in Belgium due to the nation's gambling regulations.
Balatro’s publisher, Sold Out Sales and Marketing, and its anonymous creator, “LocalThunk,” specifically cited EA Sports FC as an example of inconsistency when they contested the rating with the PEGI Complaints Board.
‘Detailed Methodology’
On Monday, the Complaints Board upheld the appeal, determining that “even though the game details the different hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game included mitigating fantastical features that justified a PEGI 12 rating.”
PEGI stated it would create a “more detailed set of classification criteria to address gambling themes and the simulation, education, and glamorization of gambling across various age groups.”
PEGI's rating system "regularly adapts to cultural expectations and follows the advice of independent experts," it stated.
‘Injustly Penalized’
Balatro employs a method in which players can accumulate chips by creating poker hands. These chips are utilized to achieve or surpass goal scores in every round but are not bet in any way.
During rounds, players may access an in-game store to buy cards and enhancements with the chips they have gathered. The mechanic is designed to improve gameplay strategy instead of imitating gambling.
The indie game with a small budget rapidly turned into a phenomenon following its launch last year, receiving numerous awards.
“This is a good step from PEGI, bringing nuance to their ratings criteria that used to be 18+ or nothing. I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished,” LocalThunk wrote in a post on X following the age reclassification.
