After 10 months, 3 Game Awards, and the downfall of global productivity, roguelike hit Balatro reaches a new all-time Steam peak

Balatro was already a smash success when it laid down its cards for the very first time this February, but a lot has changed since then. The poker-themed roguelike went viral. It was a heavy game of the year contender. Everyone and their mums got hooked when it came to mobile. And all of that momentum has meant that it's now surpassed its previous player peak on Steam.

Balatro first reached a concurrent player peak of around 37,000 Joker-chasers when it came out earlier in the year, but just yesterday, the game broke its own record and had more than 38,000 people in-game at the same time, 10 entire months after its debut, according to SteamDB.

The game's creator LocalThunk celebrated the news on social media. "Thanks to a crazy December with the Game Awards, two Steam sales, Christmas, and a Markiplier video, we surpassed our all time concurrent player peak on Steam," they tweeted. "The previous peak was around launch in February." Balatro won big at The Game Awards, taking home three trophies, and that aforementioned Markiplier video - "My New Crippling Addiction" - has amassed 2.5 million views in less than a week, obviously pushing the game to new heights. 

That's Balatro's biggest advantage, I think. It's a card game, so it's obviously hard to get anyone on board just by showing them a trailer. But LocalThunk's phenomenon has spread so far and wide because everyone who's infected by its touch can't help but spread its gospel. I've seen people play this thing on their iPads on a plane, on their Switches on the train, I've seen videos of Balatro runs happening in the middle of concerts. So, realistically, this probably isn't the last time Balatro will surpass itself.

In the meantime, check out some of the best roguelike games you can play right now.