Balatro age rating lowered from 18+ as regulator plans new criteria

Pan European Game Information (PEGI) has reduced the age rating of two titles which contain elements of gambling following successful appeals by the games’ respective publishers.  

Balatro, developed by LocalThunk and published by Playstack, has been downgraded from a PEGI 18+ rating to a PEGI 12+ rating after an appeal to the independent PEGI Complaints Board.  

Balatro is described by its creators as a “deck-building roguelike game” that has a poker theme, whereby players have to build poker hands and earn chips to defeat enemy blinds. 

The title was first released in February 2024 and is available across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Steam.  

Balatro established itself as one of last year’s hit games, winning multiple awards. As per online games platform Steam, Balatro is the 32^nd best-selling game on the site at the time of writing.

Video game trade media reported in January that Balatro had sold more than five million copies.

Balatro was given an 18+ rating in March 2024, which Playstack attributed to “a mistaken belief that the game ‘contains prominent gambling imagery and material that instructs about gambling’”.

A complaint was lodged with the PEGI Complaints Board by fellow publisher Sold Out Sales & Marketing. 

The PEGI Complaints Board concluded that although the game explains different poker hands, Balatro contained “mitigating fantastical elements” that justified the downgrading to a PEGI 12 rating. 

Following the decision, LocalThunk posted on Bluesky: “After an appeal from my publisher, Balatro has been reclassified by PEGI from 18+ to 12+.  

“This is a good step from PEGI – bringing nuance to their ratings criteria that used to be 18+ or nothing. I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished.” 

Luck Be A Landlord is another deck-building roguelike title developed and published by TrampolineTales.

The game’s premise sees players attempt to pay their rent by using a customisable slot machine, accumulating increasing amounts of money with a limited number of spins.  

Luck Be A Landlord was first released in October 2020 and is available on the same platforms as Balatro.

The complaint on Luck Be A Landlord’s behalf was submitted by publisher Fangamer. 

The PEGI Complaints Board came to a similar conclusion for Luck Be A Landlord as with Balatro, deeming that the game featured “no specific transferable gambling skills” despite the presence of the slot game mechanic.  

A PEGI statement said: “PEGI acknowledges the finding of the Complaints Board appeals panel in regards to amending the classifications of these games.  

“The PEGI system continuously evolves in line with cultural expectations and the guidance of independent experts who support our assessment process.

“PEGI strives to apply ratings criteria fairly, consistently and transparently to ensure that audiences understand the type of content that is present in games.”

The regulator added that it would develop a more detailed criteria for its age ratings in the future.  

The statement continued: “At this moment, any teaching or glamorisation of simulated gambling automatically leads to a PEGI 18 rating.  

“On the basis of these appeals, the PEGI Experts Group will develop a more granular set of classification criteria to handle gambling themes and the simulation, teaching and glamorisation of gambling in different age categories, which will now include 12 but also keep 18 as an age category for games that simulate gambling typically played in casinos and betting halls.”