News

Aug 07, 2024

Playstack celebrates 2 million copies of Balatro sold and announces update coming in 2025

From Press Release:

Wednesday August 7, London: Balatro, the award-winning roguelike deckbuilder that became an overnight indie sensation, has reached its next commercial summit having surpassed two million unit sales across PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox.

The outstanding threshold comes as publisher Playstack and developer LocalThunk begin their “Three-of-a-Kind of Surprises” campaign. Throughout August and September, an image of three cards will appear face-down across Balatro’s Discord and Twitter channels, with each card hiding a major announcement.

Over the next two months, these cards will individually turn over at undisclosed times and share a major news update for the game’s incredible community.

And to kick off the campaign, the first card turns over right now:

Card Reveal 1: Playstack is thrilled to announce that developer LocalThunk will release a major gameplay update for Balatro in 2025. This update will bring new ideas and strategies to the game and will be released across all platforms. And as a token of huge appreciation to the game’s brilliant and passionate community, the update will be completely free.

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Since its launch on February 20 across PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch, Balatro wowed critics and fans alike, with countless rave reviews and earning a coveted “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating on gaming marketplace Steam.

The two million sales milestone comes less than six months since Balatro’s launch in February this year, when the Poker-inspired roguelike reached one million unit sales in its first month. Cementing its legacy as Playstack’s fastest-selling game to date, the latest landmark reiterates Balatro’s promising long-term potential.

“Two million unit sales is a magical milestone, and both developer LocalThunk and all of us here at Playstack are fully committed to make sure Balatro’s players continue to be rewarded for their faith and fandom,” said Harvey Elliott, CEO at Playstack.

“I would never have thought that Balatro would be played by over 2 million people when I started working on it almost 3 years ago. I’m so grateful to all the players for giving it a chance and I’m excited to show everyone the next chapter for my game” said LocalThunk, the game’s award-winning creator and banana enthusiast.

As Balatro continues to capture the hearts (and clubs) of players, LocalThunk is committed to keep working on both the game’s core experience and making it accessible to even more players.

An upcoming physical version called “Balatro Special Edition” was announced in June on the Giant Bombcast, due to be released later in the year, and a new merch store went live in the same month. Developer LocalThunk has also committed to bring Balatro to more platforms, including mobile.

Keep your eyes peeled across Balatro’s Discord and Twitter channels over the upcoming weeks to see the final two cards flip over and reveal the next major surprises we have in store.

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Playstack’s commercial results have gone from strength to strength in 2024, with the survival crafting game Abiotic Factor releasing in May to a spectacular response, becoming Playstack’s second-fastest selling game in the company’s eight-year history with 600,000 unit sales and counting. Abiotic Factor also earned an “overwhelmingly positive” rating on Steam, and Playstack will continue supporting the title’s bright future with numerous expansions underway.

Playstack has at least one more title slated for release this year, with the highly anticipated The Rise of the Golden Idol due for release in Q4.

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About Balatro
The poker roguelike. Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.

Following Balatro’s release in February the game shot to more than one million players in a single month, and went on to sell two million units in half a year. It amassed universal critical acclaim and was awarded Best Original IP at the Develop Star Awards. On Steam, Valve has listed the game as one of the top played games on Steam Deck.