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Explains, but absolutely doesn't excuse.

But I've yet to see a prompt from Balatro to pay and EA is pretty much Pay To Play Legal Gambling With Real Money.

WOOO LOOT BOXES LETS GOOOO PROFIT INCENTIVE YES YES YES

Australia

They're both 15+ on the books, but one just has a purchase restriction

It narrowly avoided 18 by releasing just before the rule was changed

What I’m taking from these at whoever is working at the these rating places aren’t doing their job and purely setting the rating based off vibes

This one may be the most on point example since you actually wager bets in those (even if the chips are gone once the rounds are over).

yeah it should

That implies that balatro has any type of gambling in it when their only reasoning for giving it 18+ is because "poker is associated with gambling." Like, by that logic let's make drinking illegal because it's associated with DEIs.

any rogueli(t/k)e could be 18+ since it requires you to gamble because of permadeath. it’s ridiculous.

You should add loot boxes.

question: is @playbalatro.com's IARC [International Age Rating Coalition] rated around 12+? if so: I questioned why PEGI isn't realized that it's not actually 18+..

Idiots and liars blamed the EU for problems caused by the last Tory government.

I like the funky guy in your pfp

It was? I distinctly remember having to put something down to play it

Just thought about it. If balatro has poker terms and chips that "can translate into real life gambling" then sports games should also be ticked because it can translate into sports betting.

Good to know any semblance of poker is 18+ but literal scratch off tickets is 3+. Scratch tickets for everyone yay

Very very low effort meme out of this situation

Gambling should only give it an 18+ if it's gambling with real money.

joke.

It does.

Congratulations!

The fix is in.

Time to rename the hands to "1 card that's higher than the others" "2/3/4/5 similarly-numbered cards" "5 cards that have the same shapes on them" "5 cards in numerical order" "3 similarly-numbered cards and 2 more cards that are a different number but also similarly-numbered" Rolls off the tongue!

this is justified i think. my life was completely ruined from unguarded exposure to an 18+ game when i was very young.

It's a badge of honor.

Apparently due to how its reflective of real life gambling. Casinos absolutely hate me for the trick i learned in my 18+ video game

It’s like they think playing Poker would create a pipeline to gambling. And not games with loot crates, which is straight up gambling.

this is so bullshit wtf

lol that’s insane

i feel like EU agencies are usually more on top of things like this so the fact they simply do not see the EA sports games as actual gambling is insane to me

Well that sucks

Because people who put them into power are also clueless about who they are putting in power or why or what kind of people they are (or don't care when pulling the lever).

The sort of shit you got hit with is why Pokemon games can't feature Casino themed mini-games anymore (plus probably holding back NSO releases of the classic GB-GBA games), affecting even the North American localizations (even though the ESRB aren't that tight about it). Thanks, PEGI...

EA don't need to spend any money. Various governments have never classed sticker packs, collectable/trading cards, capsule machines, blind boxes, loot boxes or similar things as gambling. This issue is decades old.

Did you think regulatory bodies existed to serve and/or protect people or their children? Why, no--silly human. Regulatory bodies exist to exploit people and make shareholders money This includes children

Did they spell it out for you, and actually say "card games are evil, because traditional gambling is done with cards, and we don't want children enjoying cards?" Or did they just stonewall you, without ever admitting that?

"It's uhh... rummy! All resemblances to a particular gambling card game are coincidental, I swear!"

absolute crap on their part, what the hell

Fuck PEGI.

Hi there! First, congrats for the success of Balatro (just came back from DICE so congrats for the new awards as well!!). Second, I agree that this is not normal. I’m the founder of ethicalgames.org and maybe I can help fighting this fight. Can we chat?

Agreed~ I'd play it exclusively.

Like a German Wolfenstein release where Hitler hastily painted over into some robot and the Swastikas are plus signs, euro Balatro features the suits Pizza, Taco, Hamburger, Ice Cream

correct, the imbalanced standard is what makes this so goofy.

Balatro has the same rating as GTA5 and Cyberpunk. Balatro is a serious game.

So lame and completely wrong of them

F in the chat

I'll put money on it... No, wait...

well *adjusts nerd glasses* teeeeeeechknically it was because you played with poker hands, specifically, if we're gonna be pendantic about it

If Solitaire came out today, it would get the exact same treatment. It's ridiculous.

Dragon Quest also checks in at 12 with poker, slots, betting on monster fights, etc.

The reason I love Ballatro is because I hate real gambling and loot boxes. So weird.

cards confirmed sexier than ronaldo

Faux gambling more dangerous than real gambling ofc

Thats insane

Why are ratings boards always ass

They're wrong for doing this, but it won't hurt Balatro in the long run. The permanent impact on the indie community has already been realized. We're in a new paradigm. Thank you, localthunk.

Governor of poker, that is a poker game, without real money transactions, appears to be rated PEGI 12. Why is balatro treated different?

make a EU version where the cards are like “Floo of Glades” and the hands are like “Flesh” and “Two of the same thing!”

Thanks for the link, I did my part and wrote a short comment begging them to reconsider.

Because in one game it is the sole purpose and function and in the other it is "merely" a part of it...

They rate games off of vibes, or bribes, one or the other. I can't remember which.

Why do these keep getting so many likes I'm just a dumb space birb aaaaa

Bruh who cares ea sports usually sucks besides nhl

Can’t wait to take my knowledge of poker hands and win with a Flush Five full of polychromed red sealed cards.

Ridiculous!

Can't wait for PEGI to label all games with RNG as 18+ for "gambling"

I'd ask them about this:

Have you tried massive bribery and/or intimidation tactics, a team of very evil lawyers, and FIFA hired thugs?

this is just so retarded bro im so sorry

Plus the "you play cards to win money in game" is a weird way to phrase "you defeat an enemy and get a reward" that appears in quite literally every single RPG.

PEGI sucks. They really don’t give a shit whether something hurts children or not.

Wait, so it's PEGI 18 while being unrestricted (Steam) and USK 12 (consoles) in Germany? "Blaming EU laws, blaming storefronts"… Yep… This actually feels worse than TES4 Oblivion (USK 12 vs. PEGI 16), which so far has been my go-to example on why German ratings aren't that restrictive anymore.

and yet, you will find a workaround

Did the people rating it even play it?

No wait hold on they may have a point on the pokemon cards 🤔

Remember kids! Big corperations are always our friends and could never do any wrong ☺️

Somebody at PEGI is jealous their nights-and-weekends side project got like six hits on Itch and by comparison youre doing infinity numbers

you and me both

If they did that consistently so many more games would be 18+

Once you understand what PEGI is and why it exists, everything makes perfrct sense.

PEGI is full of brainless idiots...

Makes asbsolutely zero sense since actual casino simulators usually get given a 12/16 rating. 🥴

Go all in with the 18+ rating. Add jokers with swearing, nudity, drugs, the lot. Guarantee you'll get extra people playing it.

Don't have a large enough group of lobbyists

aside from cards and poker chips what else is in the game that could be deemed innapropriate

This sort of nonsense is why the BBFC had to revise its certifications in the early 00s. Time for PEGI to do the same.

I wasn't aware that Five-of-a-Kind was a common hand in traditional poker...

By that logic any racing game should be 18+ because it might make kids want to steal a car and drive it fast

I never knew Solitaire is 18+, I’ve been doing illegal things since I know computers long time ago

Yeah they treat it as "advertisement of poker"

I think this can be blamed on the fact that most europeans straight up just don't know what videogames are. We're talking about the place where public service and urban infrastructure simulators consistently rank among the best sold videogames.