Game News The creator of this successful video game did everything to protect his creation from people with evil intentions even after his death!
It’s one of the least expected games of the year, and yet, what a success! A success that has given some people lots of ideas for additional products, especially those related to gambling. But to do so, you’ll have to step over the corpse of its creator (literally).
A testament to the creator of Balatro
Balatro is one of those titles that had unexpected success at the beginning of the year. This video game shuffles cards (and more specifically, poker hands) with a roguelite system: you will lose, but you will make life easier as the games progress. A concept that has found enormous traction among players. Balatro has sold more than a million copiesa colossal figure for the independent. By comparison, the remaster of Luigi’s Mansion 2 has sold 1.15 million copies! A success that we can support with its reviews on Steam, since 97% of them (almost 40,000 in total) are positive.
This success leads some to what they themselves call conspiracy theories. In the social network “Balatro and his copies represent elements of a psychological war that encourages younger generations to become interested in casinos”.
At that time, the creator of Balatro himself sent a response to this idea, which, in his opinion, made no sense. However, this did not stop him from taking action.
From the outside looking in, this doesn’t make sense, but I hate the idea of Balatro becoming a real gambling game so much that when I recently wrote my will, I stipulated that the Balatro intellectual property should never be sold or licensed to a gambling company or casino.
An initiative that he is currently refining, as he relies on a professional to consult with professionals to ensure that such a will cannot cause problems, for example if someone sees a loophole in the law.
Balatro-themed gambling games, but nothing that takes advantage of the game mechanics
If LocalThunk (that’s his pseudonym on social network X) decided to take action, it was for a reason. He states that in recent months he has been approached several times by people who wanted to offer Balatro as a franchisee. It is assumed that these approaches were taken to develop Balatro-themed gambling games and not to re-implement Balatro’s own mechanics into a gambling game.
A matter where it is good to remember something. While Balatro is indeed a card game that takes place in a casino with poker hands, it is by no means a game where real money is at stake. On this subject, one user’s comment sums it up well:
Frankly, calling Balatro “gambling-related” just because it was developed around playing cards is no less absurd than trying to argue that gacha games aren’t gambling because you can’t win money playing them.
— BearCat purchased with Covid relief funds (@windcomecalling) 6 August 2024
Calling Balatro “gambling-related” just because it is based on playing cards is no less absurd than arguing that gachas are not gambling because you can’t make money playing them.
Just because we develop games around poker doesn’t necessarily mean we’re crazy about gambling.