Balatro has had its PEGI 18 age rating overturned following appeal: 'I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished'
Balatro has officially had its PEGI 18 age rating overturned following an appeal.
That's according to a new press release published by PEGI, where it confirmed that the popular, poker roguelike has had its PEGI 18 rating reclassified to PEGI 12 following a «successful appeal submitted by publisher Sold Out Sales & Marketing».
Since the game is poker-inspired, Balatro was initially rated an 18 for having «prominent gambling imagery», even though the game doesn't actually feature any microtransactions or in-game currency.
«The Complaints Board concluded that, although the game explains the various hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game contained Balatro's PEGI 18 rating has officially been reclassified to PEGI 12,» it reads.
Balatro solo developer LocalThunk took to X / Twitter following the news to also confirm the new reclassification.
«After an appeal from my publisher, Balatro has been reclassified by PEGI from 18+ to 12+,» LocalThunk said. «This is a good step from PEGI — bringing nuance to their rating criteria that used to be 18+ or nothing. I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished.»
LocalThunk followed up in his thread by posting an image holding physical console copies of Balatro, which feature the PEGI 18 rating on the covers, joking «Guess these are limited edition now!»
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Another game, Luck Be A Landlord, was also confirmed to have been changed to a PEGI 12 in the press release after an appeal was submitted by publisher Fangamer. It was reasoned that although the game does feature a slot machine mechanic, «there were no specific transferable gambling skills and the game can therefore be rated PEGI 12.»
It was stated that going forward, PEGI will «develop a more granular set of classification criteria» when it comes to games featuring gambling themes such as Balatro.
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