Balatro’s PEGI 18 rating in Europe has been changed following appeal

is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Balatro, the hit roguelike with poker imagery and poker hands but no actual gambling, no longer has a PEGI 18 rating in Europe following an appeal, PEGI announced today. LocalThunk, the creator of Balatro, has publicly shared his frustrations the rating — the game was originally given a PEGI 3 rating, but it was bumped to PEGI 18 shortly after its launch in February 2024 because of the game “contains prominent gambling imagery and material that instructs about gambling,” as explained by publisher Playstack. Now, Balatro will have a PEGI 12 rating following an appeal submitted by Sold Out Sales & Marketing, which rebranded to Fireshine Games in 2022 and publishes Balatro’s physical edition. “The Complaints Board concluded that, although the game explains the various hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game contained mitigating fantastical elements that warra ... Read full article.