Balatro dev: Talked with PEGI and they do not see anything wrong Balatro being rated 18+, nor with EA sports FC (and similar games) having a 3+ rating

Why don't people reach out to "Dirk Bosmans, Director General PEGI S.A."?

PEGI isn't a living creature. PEGI isn't giving out biased ratings. It's the people working there, and the person in charge. Actual people that actually exist here on this planet with us. "Talking" to a company is imaginary bullshit.

I recently played it. If anything I think it has a subtle anti-gambling message.

The more hands you play, the more you realize you can't actually win without "cheating"

Play it like poker? Congrats, you're fucked, you literally cannot win against the blind.

Stack the deck in your favor with creative use of Joker cards and a few dozen extra aces? The game becomes trivial

If the game teaches you anything it's that if you play by the rules, the house will ALWAYS win.

Would love to see thr EFF branch out and take this on. Great opportunity to set precedence.

Doesn't matter in the slightest.

me, age 12, San Andreas

Tell me you are corrupted to the core, without telling me you are corrupted to the core.

The reasoning in question:

This game teaches - by way of images, information and gameplay - skills and knowledge that are used in poker. 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 hovers over these poker hands, the game explains what types of cards the player would need in order to play certain hands. As the game goes on, the player becomes increasingly familiar with which hands would earn more points. Because these are hands that exist in the real world, this knowledge and skill could be transferred to a real-life game of poker

So, this game teaches skills and knowledge that are used in poker. The skills in knowledge are limited to... playing and making poker hands. That's it. Also, "as the game goes on, the player becomes increasingly familiar with which hands would earn more points" -- is hilariously funny. The idea that knowledge of what a poker hand is is anything related to the dangers of gambling is ridiculous.

If you search for "poker" on PEGI's site, it seems that many games which are actually about simulated gambling are rated 12 or 16. They seem to think Balatro is more likely to expose children to realistic gambling than, say, Prominence Poker or Pure Hold'em World Poker Championship, which seems completely bizarre, given that those games are about playing poker and Balatro is a fancy kind of solitaire with no betting.

It's entirely his fault for not being a multi-billion dollar company which actively invests in better ratings. In capitalism, there is no fairness - there is only money.

Is the rating purely because it uses playing cards? Poker hands?

Yahtzee and literal poker with betting are included in Nintendo clubhouse/worldwide 51 and it's rated Pegi-12.

Would balatro get a pass if it used cards numbered 1-13 instead of traditional cards?

This whole thing is bonkers.

One looks like gambling but is actually a fun roguelite card game, the other one looks like fun but is actually a gambling game. Guess which one is rated 18+?

Actual gambling - 3+

Suggestion of gambling - 18+

This is actually quite eye opening to me, as someone who doesn't really ever have to look at ratings as a consumer and has always just taken them for granted. Now I'm keenly aware it's yet another example of runaway capitalism. Just never thought too hard about it.

PEGI's a cunt.

Sounds like grounds for a defamation suit to me considering his stated opinions on gambling.

i think it's clear from this these regulatory bodies primarily function to help the industry make money. indies can sometimes get co-signs from these bodies, but only if they stay in their lane. balatro has been a huge smash hit, and it feels like this body just wants to keep it down that little bit

I’m willing to bet PEGI was lobbied to push for that 18+ rating by ea and other publishers because balatro is taking revenue from them. They don’t get how a game without microtransactions is doing better than they are

You didn't ask the question the ea way.

You're supposed to ask with a hefty bribe.

Seems like an advertising opportunity. First solitaire game rated 18+ without any gambling, I assume no nudity, language, etc.

Self-regulated organization my ass.

Learning the names and ranking of poker hands is the devil!

What does this mean practically? Are they not allowed to sell it some places anymore if it's 18+?

Guess I just have to buy Balatro harder then

Did he try getting a friendly industry insider appointed to the regulatory body to "facilitate" ?

Have you tried partnering with Disney and incorporating some Marvel/Star Wars IP into the Balatro Cinematic Universe? Perhaps selling your company to Ubisoft or Sony and letting their massive legal/lobbyist team take a swing at this? Perhaps you could just take a total end-run around the problem and release an edition that uses the Minor Arcana instead of standard poker cards?

Listen. If there's a white man in charge and aren't yourself a wealthy white man, you're in for a bad time.