PEGI board finally removes 18+ rating for Balatro

The Pan-European Game Information board (PEGI) has existed for years as a way to easily and quickly identify the relative age appropriateness of a game, with the system ranging from a PEGI 3 to PEGI 18. In a weird move by the board, the uncontroversial Poker-themed roguelike Balatro was rated as an 18+ experience despite its lack of any actual gambling. Following complaints, the board has now corrected this to the much more reflective PEGI 12.

Releasing a statement onto their website, the PEGI complaints board officially offered a ruling on the indie titles Balatro and Luck Be A Landlord.

For the uninitiated, despite both games having gambling-adjacent aesthetics, neither title features anything of the sorts – being single-purchase games with no further monetisation. That said, upon their release, both games were given 18 ratings by PEGI.

Following appeals placed by the publishers, both titles have now been re-evaluated, with PEGI stating, “The PEGI 18 rating for the game ‘Balatro’ has been changed to a PEGI 12 following a successful appeal submitted by publisher Sold Out Sales & Marketing. 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.”

The board had this to say regarding Luck Be A Landlord: “The PEGI 18 rating for the game Luck Be A Landlord was also changed to a PEGI 12 following a successful appeal submitted by publisher Fangamer. The Complaints Board reasoned that the same arguments as above applied: although the game features a slot machine mechanic, there were no specific transferable gambling skills and the game can therefore be rated PEGI 12.”

While these inaccurate ratings alone were enough of an issue, the fact that the likes of EA’s FIFA / Sports FC games include actual gambling while still being rated a 3 showed a large disconnect between the games themselves and PEGI.

Hopefully this recent revision to Balatro and Luck Be A Landlord is just the start of PEGI’s inward reflection into how they rate all current and future video game releases.

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KitGuru says: What did you think of Balatro’s original rating? Are you glad to see it changed? Will FIFA ever have its rating altered? Let us know your thoughts down below.

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