Balatro Wins Appeal Against PEGI After Being Accused of Including Gambling

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Oh, Balatro, you captivating creation. Misjudged as a gambling game and temporarily removed from the PlayStation Store following an unexpected increase in its PEGI rating to 18, its creator Localthunk, who doesn’t endorse gambling, has successfully contested this decision. The engrossingly addictive poker-like game has now had its rating reassessed, receiving a much more fitting 12 rating after over a year of attempts.

On their website, the Pan European Game Information company shared an update: After much deliberation (as reported by Eurogamer), common sense and local standards have ultimately prevailed. This incident has sparked a shift in policy for future games. Specifically, the PEGI 18 rating for the game Balatro has been revised to a PEGI 12. This change comes as a result of a successful appeal from the publisher Sold Out Sales & Marketing. The Complaints Board determined that while the game teaches different poker hands, its roguelike deck-building mechanics also include imaginative elements that justify the lower PEGI 12 rating.

In this scenario, it seems like a beneficial resolution to the issue at hand, despite our assumption that it might have resulted in lost sales for the developer. Let’s cross our fingers that all the positive hype surrounding Balatro has compensated for this specific confusion: “Given these circumstances, the PEGI Experts Group will work towards creating more detailed criteria for classification to manage gambling themes and the depiction, education, and glamorization of gambling across various age groups.

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2025-02-25 07:36