Balatro’s Ridiculous 18+ Age Rating Is Finally Lowered – Nintendo Life
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpJustice is dealtPEGI (Pan European Game Information) has announced that it has lowered the age rating for the smash-hit poker roguelike Balatro (thanks, Eurogamer).The game drew plenty of attention when PEGI rated it 18+ in Europe, citing its resemblance to the real-world game of poker as the main catalyst. It reasoned that players may be able to transfer knowledge gained from Balatro into actual games of poker, but following a formal appeal, it appears that PEGI has finally seen some sense.Posting an official confirmation on its website, PEGI states that Balatro is now rated 12+, with Luck be a Landlord also benefitting from the board’s change of heart:”The PEGI 18 rating for the game ‘Balatro’ has been changed to a PEGI 12 following a successful appeal submitted by publisher Sold Out Sales & Marketing. The Complaints Board concluded that, although the game explains the various hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game contained mitigating fantastical elements that warranted a PEGI 12 rating.”At the time of writing, Balatro is still showing its 18+ rating on the Nintendo Switch eShop, though we suspect this will be altered very soon. There’s a chance the game may be briefly removed from sale while this takes place, but don’t be alarmed if this is the case.Balatro recently bagged three gongs at the DICE Awards and has sold a remarkable 5 million copies since its launch. It’s also the proud owner of a rare 10/10 review score from yours truly, in which we described it as “a roguelike for gamers who don’t like roguelikes”.If you’ve yet to check it out, what are you waiting for?And Animal Well wins ‘Best Direction’Keep it up!Are you pleased to see Balatro’s age rating finally lowered in Europe? Let your thoughts be known with a comment down below.[source pegi.info, via eurogamer.net]About Ollie ReynoldsNintendo Life’s resident horror fanatic, when he’s not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry.Comments 20Does this make the physical 18+ version a collector’s item? 🤔@Yosher A first edition to say the least, but an interesting case for things like parental control mechanisms on games consoles.Is a software update going to be able to drop the PEGI 18 to a PEGI 12 and have that work?It’s still stupid to have the principle of rating simulated gambling games for an adult audience while allowing lootbox games that ask players to spend REAL money to be rated appropriate for children.I played casino games as a kid and I’ve never gambled at a real casino.I mean, does anyone abide by the age rating for real? It’s an online purchase after all lol@KingMike : Same, and seconded.They amended the Australian classification guidelines last year so that simulated gambling defaults to an R18+ rating (and I thought the previous default M rating was already ridiculous), while games with chance-based purchases are rated M (which is merely an advisory rating with no legal restriction).Absolute stupidity. It damn well should be the other way around!@KingMike great point, and in this case, it’s not even a gambling game, it’s a roguelite deckbuilder that happens to use playing cards.Finally, PEGI listens!Glad to hear Luck be a Landlord also received a new rating. Although not as good as Balatro, LbaL is another fun roguelike you can pack ten or twenty hours into. I think it’s cheaper on mobile, and it runs well enough on mobile that I won’t be double-dipping.Love to see it at least lowered as 18+ was absolutely ridiculous and even more so considering the ratings of games with actual gambling like lootboxes etc. as others have already mentioned here!Honestly it really didn’t matter to me. Game is great none the less.I’m happier about the fact that Slay the Princess is in the new Friends of Jimbo packSilly. More people gamble while watching basketball than they do while playing poker. Not to mention loot boxes (actual gambling) in other games.I got an Apple Arcade trial so I tried this game. I find it so boring even after giving it an honest 90 min try. It honestly makes me want to play the Luigi poker mini game in 64DS/NSMB instead.@KingMike You sound cool.Any chance of adding an 18 plus rating to the games that actually have people gambling with their actual money to try and get a rare character?Not sure why there’d be any age limit on learning poker hands. Yahtzee is a family game, and it’s basically poker with dice. I used to wager on just about anything as a kid; cards, pool, sports, video games, feats of strength and endurance. It was fun. Knowledge of poker hands doesn’t make you depraved.I think this shows that the people who decide these ratings aren’t paying attention.Poker that doesn’t involve real money is as harmless as any other card game.PEGI18 should be the default for any game that includes micro transactions, loot boxes or premium currency to buy in game items with real money.@Alpha008 If they have a clearly executed spark system, that’s likely not gonna happen.What a great benefit for them for age ratings on platforms and wider audience to play it (besides yes credit card or wallet purchase and parental controls on platforms). Other cards games don’t have to deal with this depending what they have of course.The CDI gambling game made sense sure for ratings back then in the 18+ let alone most fan service games that go a bit far make sense. Or those likely unrated on fan service launchers but that’s it’s own subject matter.Then again no one focuses on ratings on phones anyways but PC/console have to be rated. For physical sure to inform, on digital just as much but I mean phones don’t have that restriction so it is a bit ridiculous. They could just release on the phone only and go forget it, sure audience reach would be cut but I mean they’d get around a rating being restrictive that’s for sure.But loot boxes or other card games don’t have this so this game being 12+ I think is fair enough. It’s understood enough by that age, the rules are fair enough for the rating and I mean as if people don’t like share food or whatever if they fake bet or just play any game with some rewards or something to them and house rules.I’ve never played it but even still. I assume it fits well enough for a 12+ age rating with it’s rules/use of cards and other factors into it.But even then it’s not money or gambling in a broader sense. With Monopoly players could have house rules to further gambling but it’s in their house and not the intended way unless a different rule set of a monopoly addition before being sold to the customer. Sure it’s monopoly money, or maybe it’s real money, either way not on the business at that point and pointless to blame the board game makers, same with modding games and blaming the game company when it’s the modder’s creation and the player knowing any different. 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