LocalThunk, the creator of the phenomenon of the year Balatro, recently took to social media to highlight the disparities in PEGI’s judgment and the clear hypocrisy of the pan-European rating body.
In a first post both ironic and provocative on X, formerly known as Twitter, the author declared: “Since PEGI gave us an 18+ rating for the presence of evil playing cards, perhaps I should add microtransactions/ loot box/real world gambling to lower that rating to 3+ like EA Sports FC.”
The accusation is against the predatory mechanics present in several video games with a 3+ rating, therefore suitable for consumers of all ages, including young children. In a follow-up message, LocalThunk elaborates on his thoughts further: “Just to clarify: I’m much more irritated by the 3+ of these games having actual kid-friendly gambling mechanics than I am by the fact that Balatro has an 18 rating +. If these other games were rated correctly, I would happily accept the 18+. The red logo looks pretty cool.”
Therefore the author of Balatro is not complaining about the rating given to him by PEGI, but rather about the inconsistency of an institution that allows video games with real gambling mechanics to be recommended even to a very young audience, even to children in preschool age.
