Balatro,
the
card
game
everyone’s
talking
about
right
now
that’s
not
named
Queen’s
Blood,
has
apparently
been
removed
from
console
storefronts
in
certain
countries.
The
game’s
publisher,
Playstack,
addressed
the
removals,
attributing
it
to
Balatro’s
ratings
suddenly
changing
from
a
game
for
players
three
and
up
to
a
game
for
players
18
and
up.
Playstack
wrote
that
the
change
happened
“due
to
a
mistaken
belief
that
the
game
‘contains
prominent
gambling
imagery
and
material
that
instructs
about
gambling.’”
Playstack
went
on
to
vehemently
deny
that
Balatro
contains
gambling
of
any
kind,
affirming
that
its
developer
“is
staunchly
anti-gambling.”
In
an
email
to
The
Verge,
Playstack
PR
manager
Wout
van
Halderen
went
into
a
bit
more
detail
about
the
affected
consoles
and
countries,
writing,
“Most
Nintendo
Switch
stores
across
Europe
are
temporarily
affected,
as
well
as
in
Australia
and
New
Zealand.”
Storefronts
in
Asia
are
also
being
monitored,
but
Playstack
hasn’t
confirmed
if
they’re
also
impacted.
Van
Halderen
also
wrote
that
Playstack
is
working
to
get
the
game
back
up
in
the
affected
markets
as
soon
as
possible.
“The
logical
first
step
is
to
get
the
game
back
with
the
current
18+
rating
and
take
it
from
there,”
he
wrote.
“This
could
mean
a
patch
with
updated
ratings
or
an
additional
look
through
certification.”
Strict
anti-gambling
regulations
in
Europe
and
Asia
have
caught
up
a
number
of
games
that
may
not
explicitly
feature
gambling
content,
and
poker
games
seem
especially
susceptible.
Diablo
Immortal
did
not
launch
in
Belgium
or
the
Netherlands
due
to
the
countries’
classification
of
loot
boxes
as
a
form
of
gambling.
Sunshine
Shuffle,
a
narrative
game
featuring
animals
playing
poker,
was
temporarily
removed
from
the
North
American
Nintendo
eShop
and
outright
banned
in
Korea
because
its
creator
joked
a
little
too
much
that
the
game
“teaches
children
to
gamble.”
Despite
this
hiccup
with
Balatro,
Playstack
wrote
in
its
statement
that
it
doesn’t
foresee
PC
storefronts
being
affected,
and
the
game
is
still
currently
available
on
Steam.
(Originally posted by Ash Parrish)
Comments