The creators of Balatro, voted Best Independent Game at last year’s Game Awards and Polygon’s 2024 Game of the Year, have successfully appealed European rating board PEGI’s decision to slap an 18+ label on the indie darling.
“The Complaints Board concluded that, although the game explains the various hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game contained mitigating fantastical elements that warranted a PEGI 12 rating,” PEGI’s official announcement reads.
Balatro found itself mired in some controversy shortly after its February 2024 launch when PEGI adjusted its rating from 3+ to 18+ overnight for “prominent gambling imagery,” a change that saw the game temporarily prevented from being sold in some countries. Baltro publisher Playstack promised to address the issue with PEGI, while developer LocalThunk took a more direct tact, calling the decision “comedy” and pointing to the EA Sports FC series’ consistent 3+ rating despite prominently featuring actual gambling in the form of loot boxes.
The slot machine-themed Luck Be a Landlord’s rating was also downgraded today via appeal by publisher Fangamer. Moving forward, PEGI promises to “develop a more granular set of classification criteria to handle gambling themes and the simulation, teaching and glamorization of gambling in different age categories.”
“This is a good step from PEGI, bringing nuance to their ratings criteria that used to be 18+ or nothing,” LocalThunk said on Bluesky. “I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished.”
Source：https://www.polygon.com/news/528446/balatro-pegi-rating-gambling-appeal
