{"id":1038117,"date":"2026-01-16T08:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=480975"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:31:21","slug":"balatro-developer-on-game-awards-nomination-completely-surreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/balatro-developer-on-game-awards-nomination-completely-surreal\/","title":{"rendered":"Balatro developer on Game Awards nomination: \u2018Completely surreal\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Poker roguelike Balatro<\/em><\/a> is nominated in five categories at the 2024 Game Awards<\/a>, including the top spot \u2014 Game of the Year<\/a>. Solo developer LocalThunk stands as the only indie developer in the Game of the Year and Best Game Direction categories, which have the same lineup: Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, <\/em>and Metaphor: ReFantazio.<\/em> Balatro<\/em> is also nominated for Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game. Balatro <\/em>was released in February on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. It came to mobile in September<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Balatro<\/em> developer LocalThunk (who uses a pseudonym online) told Polygon it\u2019s \u201ccompletely surreal\u201d to be nominated among the likes of heavy hitters Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdree<\/em>, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth<\/em>, and the others. \u201cThe more time goes on the more I feel like I just happened to stumble into winning the game developer lottery. I’d like to think the game has appeal but I feel that appeal pales in comparison to the incredible other nominees.\u201d<\/p>\n

LocalThunk added that he was \u201ctotally blindsided\u201d by the Game of the Year nomination, but plans to celebrate with a nice dinner with his partner.<\/p>\n

Balatro<\/em> had the kind of breakout success that many studios and developers could only dream of: In less than a month, the game surpassed more than one million copies sold. And that was well before Balatro<\/em> was released on mobile, where it reportedly brought in more than $500,000 in less than a week, per MobileGamer.biz<\/a>. Over the past year, developer LocalThunk has pieced together lots of crossovers with other indie games \u2014 including putting a version of Balatro<\/em> in fellow Best Independent Game nominee (albeit in 2023) Dave the Diver<\/em><\/a>. But there\u2019s still more to come: A gameplay update is expected in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been lucky enough to share this journey with a lot of fellow indie developers and the outpouring of love and support from them and my friends and family has been overwhelming,\u201d LocalThunk added.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poker roguelike Balatro is nominated in five categories at the 2024 Game Awards, including the top spot \u2014 Game of the Year. Solo developer LocalThunk stands as the only indie developer in the Game of the Year and Best Game Direction categories, which have the same lineup: Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Balatro is also nominated for Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Mobile Game. Balatro was released in February on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. It came to mobile in September. Balatro developer LocalThunk (who uses a pseudonym online) told Polygon it\u2019s \u201ccompletely surreal\u201d to be nominated among…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1038118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1038117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nBalatro developer on Game Awards nomination: \u2018Completely surreal\u2019 | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Poker roguelike Balatro is nominated in five categories at the 2024 Game Awards, including the top spot \u2014 Game of the Year. 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