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Balatro will never become casino fodder, because its creator is planning even beyond his own death

That's one way to secure the brand!

A selection of Jokers from the card-based rougelike, Balatro.
Image credit: PlayStack

Balatro remains a killer game on the minds of thousands of players around the world. It's a big success, with many eagerly awaiting new updates for the brilliant time killer. The future for Balatro remains a mystery, though one thing we know for certain is that the game will never find a home in actual casinos, despite its obvious thematic connections.

This revelation comes via Twitter, where the creator has laid down the actions he has taken to stop any such plans. According to solo-dev LocalThunk, he has written a stipulation into his will so that when he dies, the Balatro IP can never been sold to a casino or gambling company.

This info came out in response to a bizzare conspiracy theory from another user on the social media platform, who speculated (probably jokingly) that Balatro and its imitators were part of a secretive plan to get younger generations into casinos. A wild perspective to be sure, especially since Balatro is purposely lacking many of the invassive or predatory monetization features present in other games these days.

Indeed, the game has found itself in the same category as other big indie hits like Vampire Survivors, smaller low-budget projects that have stripped out all the fluff and much of the money-making aperatus of modern video game, instead providing a small, but stupendous, experience for people to play. Great news for us, bad news for the suit and tie money men of the Las Vegas Strip. It's good to know that while Balatro has the whole world ahead of it, that particular path through the desert will remain unexplored.

Would you have made the same move, writing stipulations in your will to protect your work? Let us know below - it's a hard call even for those will steadfast values against gambling. Kudos to LocalThunk, for staying strong and keeping things above board.

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