Press release

Playstack Goes All In on Developer LocalThunk’s “Balatro” in Latest Publishing Deal

With its unique spin on a world-famous card game, Balatro is proving to be incredibly gripping and rewarding.

London, September 21st, 2023— Publisher Playstack and developer LocalThunk are excited to announce their partnership for the upcoming title “Balatro”. The highly anticipated game joins Playstack's roster of successful titles like Mortal Shell, The Case of the Golden Idol and the recently released AK-xolotl.

After an astoundingly successful private closed beta earlier this year, in which the average median play time among hundreds of players was more than ten hours, Playstack and LocalThunk are now introducing Balatro with a brand-new demo that is available digitally worldwide today. 

Balatro is a groundbreaking addition to the roguelite deckbuilding genre. It offers players a highly familiar and intuitive experience built on poker hands, and then twists that formula with game-changing joker cards that can transform the rules of the classic game. With its unique spin on a world-famous card game, Balatro is an incredibly gripping and rewarding roguelite deckbuilder

Watch a gameplay video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfuz2zMxULE

"Balatro" joins a world-class roster of successful Playstack titles, solidifying the publisher's reputation for delivering high-quality gaming experiences that captivate players worldwide. Balatro is poised to strengthen the portfolio of Playstack's previous hits, further establishing the company as a powerhouse in indie publishing.

The demo is now available on Steam.


About Balatro

Balatro is a groundbreaking rogue-lite deckbuilder, offering players a highly familiar and intuitive gameplay experience built on poker hands, and then twists that formula with game-changing joker cards that can transform the rules of the classic game.

With its unique spin on a world-famous card game, Balatro is proving to be incredibly gripping and rewarding, as evidenced by its first beta playtest in which the average median play time among hundreds of players was more than ten hours. 


About Playstack

Playstack was founded on the belief that even the greatest developers need support to be at their best. Its ethos is to discover and nurture the next generation of talent in the games industry. Playstack provides development partners the security and resources that allow them to play to their strengths as creative leaders, entrusting our experienced team to mastermind the marketing and publishing campaign. We support great ideas wherever they come from. www.Playstack.com

About LocalThunk LocalThunk is a solo developer based in Canada working on their first title "Balatro".