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"This is weird, isn't it?" asks Final Fantasy 16 actor Ben Starr, wearing full clown attire and accepting an award for Balatro, a game he had nothing to do with aside from appearing in an advertisement. And yes, Ben and dear readers, it is weird, so let me just explain what's happening here.
Well, actually, that's pretty much exactly what's happening. Starr, who played Jimbo the clown in that bizarre Balatro live-action trailer, is accepting the roguelike's award for Best Debut Indie at the 2025 BAFTA Game Awards. "For those of you who aren't chronically online, this might be a rather confusing and, at first glance, suspiciously arousing moment," Starr says.
It's unclear why Starr is accepting the award and not LocalThunk, the developer responsible for Balatro, but Starr's speech gives us a presumably insincere explanation in his admittedly very funny acceptance speech. Just another one for the pile.
"So what if my only contribution to Balatro was that trailer and a bit of sucking on a banana for a few seconds? But I ask you this: isn't selling stuff nice? What is art in 2025 if not a thinly veiled vessel of ruthless commercial self interest through which rich people try to make even more money?
"And I can say, having met him personally, LocalThunk is really rich now. He has shoes made of gold and he thanks you for making him that way. He says here at the bottom, he wishes he could thank more people, but if he's being honest, it was just him who made it, everyone else is a freeloader, especially you [publisher] Playstack. Oh, and play more independent games like Animal Well. They are the lifeblood of this industry, and they deserve your respect."
"This is WEIRD!" - Balatro Wins Debut Game at #BAFTAGamesAwards 🤡 pic.twitter.com/FfGBN6kdXFApril 8, 2025
This reminds me of a weird, internet-poisoned, video gamey spin on that scene in Iron Man where Obadiah Stane accepts an award for Tony Stark because Tony was too busy partying to attend the awards ceremony. Except here we don't actually know the real reason the recipient wasn't present, although presumably it's for a much more boring, ordinary reason like scheduling conflicts.
