Balatro's creator hits out at EA Sports FC as the roguelike gets rated 18+: "I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating"

Balatro and Stardew Valley collab card art — (Image credit: LocalThunk / Playstack)

EA Sports FC is catching some unfortunate strays as Balatro creator LocalThunk lashes out at PEGI's decision to categorize the roguelike as an 18+ game.

"Since PEGI gave us an 18+ rating for having evil playing cards," writes LocalThunk on Twitter, "maybe I should add microtransactions/loot boxes/real gambling to lower that rating to 3+ like EA sports FC." These scathing words point out the apparent hypocrisy at play from the European regulatory body, with Balatro assumedly receiving an adults-only rating purely on the basis of it involving card games typically associated with casinos and gambling.

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 FCDecember 15, 2024

On the other hand, LocalThunk seems to be calling out EA Sports FC as an example of games with microtransaction-based business models that playing off supposed real-life gambling scenarios. In this case, the culprit is the football game's randomized loot boxes, promoting a scratch card-esque purchasing pattern that could, theoretically, lead to addiction. Alas, the game is still rated 3+ by PEGI.

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It's been an awards season peppered with glittering trophies aplenty for Balatro, but LocalThunk doesn't look ready to back down from PEGI's decision to raise its rating just yet. How will the ratings board react? Especially when, you gotta admit, LocalThunk makes a pretty good case in very few words?

Here's everything announced at The Game Awards 2024 if you want to see how many awards Balatro managed to scoop.

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Jasmine is a Senior Staff Writer at GamesRadar+. Raised in Hong Kong and having graduated with an English Literature degree from Queen Mary, University of London, she started her games journalism career as a freelancer with TheGamer and Tech Radar Gaming before joining GamesRadar+ full-time in 2023. As part of the Features team, her duties include attending game previews and key international conferences such as Gamescom and Digital Dragons in between regular interviews, opinion pieces, and the occasional news or guides stint. In her spare time, you'll likely find Jasmine thinking/talking about Resident Evil, purchasing another book she's unlikely to read, or complaining about the weather.