This developer wouldn't have given Balatro more than an 8 before seeing its reception

The card roguelike Balatro has positioned itself as one of the great successes of 2024, achieving an impressive 98% positive ratings on Steam and ranking tenth on Metacritic. Developed by LocalThunk, the game has surprised both critics and players, notably exceeding the expectations of its creator, who initially thought it would only appeal to a limited audience.

Impostor syndrome also affects the greats

Before its release, LocalThunk was cautious about the game’s potential. In a blog post, the developer mentioned that its publisher, Playstack, did an excellent job promoting Balatro among the press, but he himself did not trust that the title would receive a good reception. However, the lifting of the review embargo on February 19 revealed an unexpected phenomenon: Balatro quickly achieved a rating of 90 on Metacritic, a figure it has maintained since then.

The arrival of the game also came with notable anticipation, accumulating over 208,000 additions to the wishlist on Steam before its release. Despite the excitement, LocalThunk feared that the success would be fleeting and anticipated weeks of hard work to fix possible bugs after the launch. Surprisingly, Balatro hit the market with remarkable stability and generated over $600,000 in revenue in its first hours, thus consolidating its success.

With critical acclaim and solid commercial performance, Balatro emerges not only as a personal triumph for LocalThunk but also as an example that innovation in video games can still surprise in a saturated industry. This card roguelike has shown that bold bets can lead to great rewards, becoming one of the standout titles of the year.

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