Balatro Dev Calls Out PEGI For “Real Gambling” Rating Hypocrisy Vs. EA Sports FC

Balatro was a big surprise winner in this year’s The Game Awards. It was certainly the one small game that got nominated for GOTY, and some gamers still believe that it should have won. It did take the Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game awards, so it still has a really good showing at the Keighleys.

This incident, though, is a bad showing for Europe’s rating system.

PEGI, short for Pan-European Game Information, is a European rating system dedicated entirely to video games. PEGI has been around for 21 years, so you would imagine that they would understand video games at this point.

Balatro developer Localthunk aired his grievances about PEGI on Twitter, saying:

“Since PEGI gave us an 18+ rating for having evil playing cards maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating to 3+ like EA sports FC”

And it really is as absurd as it sounds. PEGI’s 3+ rating is their equivalent to the ESRB’s E for Everyone rating, and the 18+ rating is their equivalent to the AO 18+ rating. No, not the Mature rating, the Adults Only rating. Games that depict gambling can be hit with these age ratings.

Now, if you haven’t played Balatro, what you need to know here is that Balatro is not a gambling game, and it has no microtransactions or online play. It uses poker hands as a gameplay mechanic, but the game is substantially a roguelike deck-builder, closer to Slay the Spire than Magic the Gathering.

Absurdly enough, PEGI came up with an explanation for their decision. On their PEGI rating, they had this to say about Balatro:

“This game has received a PEGI 18 which restricts availability to ADULTS ONLY and is not suitable for persons under 18 years of age. This rating has been given because it features prominent gambling imagery.

This game teaches – by way of images, information and gameplay – skills and knowledge that are used in poker. .. Because these are hands that exist in the real world, this knowledge and skill could be transferred to a real-life game of poker.”

Subsequently, they give this rating and explanation for EA Sports FC 25’s rating:

“This game has received a PEGI 3. Suitable for all ages.

This game offers players the opportunity to purchase in-game items, in the form of an in-game currency, which can be used to purchase random card packs and other game items. Some parents or carers may want to be aware of this.

Parents, carers or other responsible adults should check to see what is being offered before making any purchase on behalf of a child. It should be noted that the game can still be played without the need to purchase such items.”

What makes this especially absurd is that the EU itself has been monitoring lootboxes for years. But we understand that PEGI doesn’t actually fall under the EU’s jurisdiction, but is instead run by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe, AKA, the European version of the ESA.

And while we understand that this has been an issue for some time, we can see why Localthunk thought he could make noise around this issue fresh from the TGAs. Maybe the EU should take the ISFA head on about this issue, lest they decide that they should make their own politically and aligned regulatory body to take control of the sale and distribution of video games away from them.

It’s weird to think that a political body would do a better job at regulating games to protect children than the industry can, but that’s what PEGI has brought this situation to.