PEGI to Reassess Automatic 18+ Ratings for Games Featuring Simulated Gambling Following Balatro's Appeal

Following a successful appeal, Balatro's age rating has been lowered from 18+ to 12 across Europe. The game's publisher, Playstack, previously stated that the title was temporarily removed from sale on various digital stores due to an unexpected change in its age rating from 3+ to 18+. This change was made due to the game being mistakenly believed to contain prominent gambling imagery and instructional material about gambling. However, after the appeal, PEGI has agreed to develop more detailed criteria for classifying games with gambling themes. Currently, any game that teaches or glamorizes simulated gambling automatically receives a PEGI 18 rating. The PEGI Experts Group will now create a more nuanced set of criteria to handle gambling themes, including simulations, teaching, and glamorization, across different age categories, including 12 and 18. This decision comes after Balatro surpassed 5 million units sold, as confirmed by its solo developer, LocalThunk, last month.