The indie scene just got a little brighter, folks! Bellator has officially sold an astonishing 5 million units. Yes, you read that right, five million! That’s no small feat for a game started as a humble project by LocalThunk.
This announcement came via their X (formerly Twitter) account, where they celebrated this milestone with fans. At a price point of $15, that’s around $75 million generated in-game sales alone. Not too shabby!
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! pic.twitter.com/ZnRpWnJlTW
— Balatro (@BalatroGame) January 21, 2025
In their tweet, LocalThunk shared, “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!” It seems the buzz from The Game Awards really helped push those sales numbers.
Before this recent spike, Balatro had already sold 3.5 million units, a solid number on its own, but winning at The Game Awards added another 1.5 million to that tally like icing on the cake.
This game hasn’t just caught the eye of casual gamers; it’s being heralded as one of the best indie titles not only of the year but arguably of all time. Praise has poured in for its art style and engaging gameplay loop.
However, not all has been smooth sailing for Balatro. In December 2024, it received an 18+ rating from PEGI due to “links to gambling.” In response, LocalThunk took to X once more to joke about possibly adding microtransactions or loot boxes to lower that rating to something more kid-friendly, like EA Sports FC’s ratings, showing they can take criticism with humor.
