The surprise hit Balatro, a Roguelike deck-builder based around poker, was removed from console digital storefronts in some countries on March 1 after its rating was suddenly changed to 18+ for allegedly promoting gambling.
Developer Playstack took to Twitter to address the change, calling out the ratings board for what they said was a mistaken belief. They hope for this change to only affect a small amount of stores, but they are not sure of everywhere it has been removed.
“We are aware that Balatro has been temporarily removed from sale on a number of digital stores in some countries on console platforms, meaning that some new customers will be unable to buy it,” they said. “Presently we cannot estimate with complete confidence which stores it will be removed from, but our hope is that only a minority of stores will be affected. We are highly confident that the game will remain available on PC stores, including Steam.”
They assured users that owners of the game will still be able to play it, even if it was removed from their storefront, and that their team is working to return the game to its original rating.
“This is not an issue with the stores themselves,” they said, “however a reaction to an overnight change to Balatro’s age rating from 3+ to 18+ by a ratings board without any advance warning, due to a mistaken belief that the game ‘contains prominent gambling imagery and material that constructs about gambling.'”
According to Playstack, they had previously specifically addressed and cleared this issue with the ratings board, where they were told that accusations of promoting gambling were unwarranted.
“Balatro does not allow or encourage gambling – and we fundamentally believe the ratings decision is unfounded,” they said. “Balatro was developed by someone who is staunchly anti-gambling, and painstaking care has been taken to ensure that the game does not feature gambling mechanics of any kind.”
“We thank you for your patience and support – we are utterly blown away by your passion and belief in Balatro.”