Creator of Poker Roguelike BalatroOne who goes by the nickname LocalThunk is sharing some frustrations over the game's 18-plus rating in Europe.
“Since PEGI gave us an 18-plus rating for bad cards, maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating to 3-plus.” ea sports fc,, Localthunk posted on X over the weekend,
of rape 18+ rating is nothing new. The game was originally given a 3-plus rating, but shortly after its launch in February, PEGI raised it to 18-plus, as reported at the time. by playstack, of rape Publisher. As a result the game was briefly removed from “many digital stores in some countries”.
according to PEGI's page BalatroThe rating was given because the game “contains prominent gambling depictions.” PEGI also mentions the following “content specific issues”:
This game teaches the skills and knowledge used in poker through images, information and gameplay. During gameplay, the player is rewarded with 'chips' for playing certain hands. The player is able to access a list of poker hand names. As the player rotates through these poker hands, the game tells what types of cards the player will need to play certain hands. As the game progresses, the player becomes familiar with which hands will earn more points. Because these are hands that exist in the real world, this knowledge and skills can be transferred to the real life game of poker.
While it is true that the game features poker imagery and poker hands that a player can change into an actual game of poker, it is worth noting that Balatro There is actually no gambling as part of the game play. (LocalThunk also did stipulated in his will He Balatro Cannot be sold or licensed to any gambling company.)
games like ea sports fc Include in-game purchases with random ingredientsLocalThunk raises an issue regarding this very thing. “I'm more bothered by the 3-plus for these games with actual gambling mechanisms for kids than the 18-plus rating of Balatro,” he said on sunday,
localthunk said on wednesday which he tried to discuss of rape rating with PEGI, but “they don't see anything wrong Balatro 18 plus rating is being given, nor with ea sports fc (and similar games) have a rating of 3-plus.” LocalThunk said, adding that PEGI was “blaming EU laws, blaming the storefront, looking forward to the future.”
PEGI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.