Balatro is approaching $5 million USD (about $7 million CAD) in mobile revenue, according to a new report from Pocket Gamer.
Per the publication, the massively popular poker roguelike game, developed by Canadian indie studio LocalThunk, has generated about $4.4 million USD (about $6.1 million CAD) since launching on Android and iOS on September 26th. What’s notable about this is that Balatro bucks the trend of most mobile games in that it’s not free-to-play and is instead a premium $12.99 title. On the flip side, this means the game has no monetization or ads. It should also be noted that the game is included with Apple Arcade, so it’s unclear how many mobile players have gone that route.
But what’s especially interesting is that Balatro was actually experiencing a six-week sales slump, according to Pocket Gamer, until a surge came last week amid the reveal of The Game Awards nominations. In total, Balatro is up for five awards, including the highly coveted Game of the Year, which naturally gave it extra exposure among gamers. (Disclaimer: MobileSyrup is one of the more than 130 global media outlets on The Game Awards’ voting jury.)
Of course, all of this only accounts for Balatro‘s mobile performance. The game is also available on all consoles, PC and Mac, and as of August was confirmed to have sold two million copies. It will be interesting to see how the sales may have improved on other platforms as well amid The Game Awards recognition.
But above all else, Balatro was made by just one person (a man who says he’s in Canada but otherwise won’t reveal his identity), so its success has been particularly impressive.
The Game Awards will take place on December 12th. Fans can vote here for their favourite games, including Balatro.
Image credit: LocalThunk
Source: Pocket Gamer
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
