Balatro Hits 5 Million Sales Milestone Following Game Awards Success

On Jan. 21, 2025, the indie game Balatro announced on its official X account that it had reached an impressive milestone, selling over five million copies across all platforms. 

Developer LocalThunk and publisher Playstack are crediting the recent spike in sales to the game’s success at The Game Awards 2024, an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry established in 2014 produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley.

The poker-inspired roguelike deckbuilder has been a breakout hit since its launch in February 2024, earning critical acclaim and several rewards such as Best Mobile Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best Independent Game at The Game Awards 2024, as well as Best Indie Game and Breakthrough Award at Golden Joystick Awards 2024.

In a celebratory tweet, the studio expressed gratitude to players, writing: “The last few weeks have been pretty wild. To everyone who picked up Balatro after seeing it at @thegameawards, we hope you’re having an amazing time with it! If this is your first time picking up an indie title, try to make it a habit! There’s some amazing stuff out there!”

Available on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms, the game initially sold 500,000 copies within ten days of its February debut. By December, its sales reached 3.5 million, spurred by its arrival on mobile and year-end awards buzz. Balatro has already collaborated with major titles like The Witcher 3, Among Us, and Cyberpunk 2077. 

Balatro reached new milestones despite the fact that shortly after its release, the game faced delistings in several countries due to a misrating by the European ratings board PEGI, which mistakenly labeled it as promoting gambling. LocalThunk fiercely contested the ruling, emphasizing that Balatro does not involve real gambling. The issue was resolved with an 18+ rating, which the developer wryly called “comedy” in a later statement.