Frequent readers (and why wouldn't you be?) may recall one of the more oddball stories last year involving Balatro, the roguelike deckbuilder, which was initially classified as PEGI 18 by rating boards. This surprising rating placed it on the same level of content as something like Grand Theft Auto, which naturally baffled many, including the developer.
However, it appears that PEGI has acknowledged their error and reclassified Balatro to the more fitting (in my opinion) PEGI 12 rating. According to developer Localthunk, who shared the news on Twitter, this reclassification was partly due to an appeal made by Balatro's publisher to the ratings board.
This isn't the first time Balatro has faced scrutiny from external organizations. It was also briefly removed from the Nintendo eShop due to concerns over its perceived gambling content. This occurred despite the fact that players cannot win real money or place bets; the use of cash in the game is purely an abstract mechanism for purchasing more cards within each run.
As mentioned earlier, one of the key reasons Balatro was initially classified as PEGI 18 was due to its depiction of gambling-adjacent imagery. Essentially, the concern was that players might learn what a straight flush or a flush is, which led to the comparison with more violent content like vehicular homicide in GTA.
It's frustrating to see that Balatro's initial classification also affected its availability on mobile platforms. This is particularly ironic given the widespread presence of in-app transactions in mobile gaming. So, while a late correction is better than none, the initial misclassification should never have occurred.
If this news is finally convincing you to give Balatro a try, why not check out our tier list of Jokers? It'll help you figure out which of these game-changing cards are worth your time and which ones aren't.
