Yay!
Stevivor’s Game of the Year 2024 Balatro is now on Xbox Game Pass, at the same time shedding its 18+ PEGI rating in Europe.
“The Complaints Board concluded that, although the game explains the various hands of poker, the roguelike deck-building game contained mitigating fantastical elements that warranted a PEGI 12 rating,” PEGI said of its decision.
PEGI loves to change Balatro‘s classification, shifting it from 3+ to 18+ and now back to 12.
“This is a good step from PEGI, bringing nuance to their ratings criteria that used to be 18+ or nothing,” developer LocalThunk said on Bluesky. “I hope this change will allow developers to create without being unfairly punished.”
The Game Pass release also coincides with the release of Balatro‘s free Friends of Jimbo 4 update. Similar to others, the update will bring themed cards from the following franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Bugsnax, Critical Role, Dead by Daylight, Rust, Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, Slay the Princess, and Fallout.
Balatro is on Game Pass right this second, while the free update should drop later today. Balatro is currently available on Windows PC, Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, Switch, iOS, and Android devices.
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