While Balatro is themed around poker, allowing players to score points by forming poker hands, it does not endorse or replicate gambling in any form. However, the game’s creator, LocalThunk, has addressed the ongoing misconceptions that arise from this thematic choice, particularly regarding ratings issued by PEGI and YouTube.
LocalThunk expressed frustration, stating, “Apparently Balatro videos are being rated 18+ on YouTube now for gambling,” in response to a claim from the YouTube channel Balatro University, which highlighted that 119 of their 606 videos were restricted by age within a single day.
According to the channel, YouTube made changes on March 19 to its community guidelines, consequently limiting access to videos that contain “depictions or promotions of online casino sites or apps.” It appears that Balatro was incorrectly categorized in this sweep, resulting in many content creators focused on Balatro facing age restrictions that diminish their video’s reach and potential success.
LocalThunk further remarked, “Good thing we are protecting children from knowing what a 4 of a kind is and letting them watch CS [Counter-Strike] case opening videos instead.” This isn’t the first instance where such issues have affected Balatro; LocalThunk has previously criticized games that do permit players to gamble real money in exchange for in-game items, similar to the microtransactions found in Counter-Strike. The certification board PEGI has also assigned an unusually high age rating to the game in the UK, and it was briefly removed from digital storefronts in multiple countries last year due to concerns related to gambling.
At that time, LocalThunk stated, “I do not condone gambling (staking something personally valuable on an uncertain event) nor do I believe that Balatro contains gambling. I did add risk/reward mechanics and RNG to Balatro, but these are core mechanics to the genre at large.” Ultimately, he successfully challenged PEGI’s 18+ rating, but similar issues continue to arise.
Balatro’s creator has also recently shared insights after completing all decks at every difficulty level, stating, “All this time playing has killed any negative emotions I had toward it.”