2024 saw the meteoric rise of Balatro, amassing numerous award nominations and selling over five million copies – an unexpected triumph for its developer LocalThunk. The developer recently unveiled a timeline leading up to the game’s launch, shedding light on the days preceding Balatro’s success. Interestingly, LocalThunk had anticipated modest ratings of around 6 or 7, considering it was an unusual game. However, when review embargoes were lifted, PC Gamer bestowed a score of 91 upon Balatro, while other outlets echoed similar praise.
As more reviews come in, we find ourselves soaring above 90 on Metacritic and OpenCritic by the end of the day, something I never thought was a possibility. However, it has definitely generated a lot of excitement for the game’s launch. To be honest, I wouldn’t have given Balatro a rating higher than an 8, but I guess I’m biased since I made it myself.
LocalThunk attributes a significant portion of Balatro’s success to Playstack’s remarkable efforts in securing reviews from traditional media before the game’s release. This strategic move led to numerous positive write-ups, creating a buzz that significantly increased interest in the game. The launch exceeded expectations, with sales being 10 to 20 times higher than anticipated. On its debut day on Steam, Balatro sold an impressive 119,000 copies, making it a day LocalThunk will never forget and deeming it as “the most surreal day of my life.
Predicting a game’s sales performance can be quite challenging. Occasionally, games receive overwhelmingly positive reviews but struggle to gain traction, as the video game industry is filled with cases of “unconventional” titles that were highly acclaimed yet failed to find a significant audience. However, against all odds, Balatro found its way into popularity, serving as an encouraging example for independent developers who dare to pursue their creative visions. It came as a surprise to LocalThunk when they expected Balatro to only appeal to “a handful of friends,” but instead, it resonated with a broader audience and led to sales. Now, there are Balatro merchandise available, and even collaborations with established franchises like Assassin’s Creed have been established.
Approaching a little over one year since the debut of Balatro, it’s intriguing to observe how this game manages to draw in fresh gamers. Last month, Balatro became accessible on Xbox Game Pass, which could significantly increase the number of people exploring the game who might not have done so otherwise. With its early favorable reviews and numerous awards won towards the end of last year, it appears that the player base for Balatro will continue to expand for quite some time. It’s clear that Balatro has surpassed LocalThunk’s predictions, but it doesn’t seem like the game is close to running out of new fans just yet.
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2025-03-12 17:42