Image: LocalThunk
Balatro, the delightful poker roguelike that’s one of my favorite video games of this year, will be getting a free “major gameplay update” in 2025, according to developer LocalThunk. The update will “bring new ideas and strategies to the game” and will be released for all platforms (it’s available on Steam, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox), LocalThunk says.
Balatro launched earlier this year, and it’s since become a smash hit thanks to its compelling gameplay loop that will have you saying “just one more run” until it’s far past your bedtime. While the game involves poker hands, you don’t gamble chips or money — instead, the goal is to strategically build high-scoring hands through things like discarding cards, modifying your cards, and collecting powerful jokers that have various ways of influencing the game. (LocalThunk says he is so opposed to Balatro becoming a true gambling game that, in his will, he stipulated that the franchise could never be sold to a gambling company or casino.)
From the outside this might make 0 sense but I hate the thought of Balatro becoming a true gambling game so much that when I recently created my will I stipulated that the Balatro IP may never be sold or licensed to any gambling company/Casino https://t.co/svKdhgjjm4
— localthunk (@LocalThunk) August 6, 2024
The game has now sold 2 million units, LocalThunk says, and it regularly sits in the upper ranks of top-played games on Steam Deck. I’ve played Balatro most on Switch, but I bought a second copy on Steam so that I could play on Steam Deck, too.
In addition to the upcoming major update, LocalThunk says there are “a few more announcements in the works that will be revealed over the next couple of months.” The game is also in development for iPhone and Android.
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