localthunk – Video Game News, Reviews, Walkthroughs And Guides | GamingBolt https://gamingbolt.com Get a Bolt of Gaming Now! Mon, 26 May 2025 17:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Assassin’s Creed Shadows X Dead by Daylight and Balatro Collaborations are Live https://gamingbolt.com/assassins-creed-shadows-x-dead-by-daylight-and-balatro-collaborations-are-live Mon, 26 May 2025 17:13:07 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=620301 The first collaboration for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is live, and it’s Behaviour Interactive’s Dead by Daylight. While an unlikely combination, the event plays out in a new quest introduced with Title Update 1.0.5 after Yasuke is unlocked.

It sees Naoe investigating the disappearance and attacks on villagers in Harima. She must eventually deal with an “otherworldly” threat and master “unique mechanics” to survive. The quest is available from the Hideout and awards a free Trinket and Banner upon completion.

Of course, the store is where the remaining content resides. It offers a special pack with outfits, Trinkets, weapons and Maurice, the Clown’s undead horse, as a mount.

Interestingly, another collaboration was stealthily added – Balatro. Players can obtain a new Trinket/Amulet with a unique Legendary perk, causing a random affliction upon ending a combo. How you get it is unknown, but it’s definitely fitting for the deck-builder.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Check out our review and the post-launch roadmap here.

]]> 620301 Balatro Has Sold 5 Million Units https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-crosses-5-million-sales Tue, 21 Jan 2025 16:44:13 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=609419 LocalThunk’s deck-builder Balatro saw great success at The Game Awards 2024, bagging three awards. The buzz has seemingly translated into additional sales, with the developer announcing a new milestone of five million units sold.

This is up from the 3.5 million units sold in December, so the momentum – if not the exposure – from the awards show definitely contributed. Balatro is available for PS4, PS5, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. It launched on February 20th, 2024, and immediately garnered attention, earning critical acclaim and selling 500,000 copies in ten days.

There have since been collaborations with numerous other titles, including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Among Us, Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors, 1000xResist, Cyberpunk 2077, Slay the Spire, Warframe, and many more. Whether it will receive any more in the future, much less additional DLC expanding on the core game remains to be seen. Stay tuned for updates until then.

]]> 609419 Balatro Sells 3.5 Million Units https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-sells-3-5-million-units Wed, 11 Dec 2024 19:20:15 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=606319 At the outset of 2024, few could have predicted that Balatro would end the year as one of its best and biggest releases – hell, few even knew what it was – but it seems like that’s exactly how things have panned out. Similarly, from a sales perspective, the indie roguelike sensation continues to cross major milestones.

Taking to Twitter, developer LocalThunk announced that Balatro has now sold over 3.5 million units worldwide across all platforms. In August, its sales stood at 2 million, so clearly, the game has maintained impressive momentum. Recent months have not only seen the release of new collaboration DLC and a mobile release, but also multiple nominations at The Game Awards, including for the Game of the Year category, all of which will have contributed to continuing strong sales for the game.

Balatro is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android. The game will also receive a major free gameplay update sometime in 2025. Stay tuned for more details on what it’ll bring.

]]> 606319 Balatro Has Reportedly Earned $4.4 Million on Mobile Devices https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-has-reportedly-earned-4-4-million-on-mobile-devices Wed, 27 Nov 2024 15:43:40 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=605126 Balatro has probably been one of the year’s biggest indie sensations, having not only enjoyed widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike (including multiple nominations at The Game Awards), but also healthy sales across traditional platforms.

In September, developer LocalThunk and publisher PlayStack also brought the game to iOS and Android, and since then, also seems to have been bringing in revenue on mobile platforms at a decent clip- at least in recent days.

As per a report published by Pocketgamer.biz, Balatro has earned almost $4.4 million in revenue on iOS and Android since releasing for mobile platforms in late September. In its first week, the roguelike title had made $1 million, with launch day spending peaking at $162,000, and day 2 spending at $200,000. Starting October 3, revue started dropping, and by the end of the month, the daily average stood at $71,000.

As per the report, however, the game saw a short increase in revenue from mobile platforms on November 18, climbing to $727,000 for the day. Incidentally, that was the day that the game received five nominations at The Game Awards, including for the Game of the Year category. Clearly, the nominations resulted in a sharp boost in sales, at least on mobile.

It’s worth keeping in mind that Balatro features no microtransactions, and is instead available as a paid title, a model not usually followed for mobile titles (at least not by the majority of the more successful ones).

Balatro is also available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

]]> 605126 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Astro Bot Lead The Game Awards 2024 Nominations https://gamingbolt.com/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-astro-bot-lead-the-game-awards-2024-nominations Mon, 18 Nov 2024 17:41:42 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=604394 The full list of nominees across all categories at 2024’s The Game Awards has been revealed, and there’s plenty to discuss. In the big category, Game of the Year, the six games to be nominated this year are Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio (which is also the exact same set of nominees for the Best Direction category).

Elden Ring’s expansion getting nominated might take some by surprise, but it was confirmed shortly before the nominees were announced that expansions, remakes, and remasters of previously released titles would be eligible for all categories. A few notable titles that failed to make the cut for the big category, meanwhile, include the likes of Helldivers 2, Silent Hill 2, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

In total, Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are the most widely nominated games for this year’s event with seven nominations each, followed by Metaphor: ReFantazio with six nominations, Balatro and Silent Hill 2 by five nominations apiece, and Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 with four nominations each.

Meanwhile, PlayStation is the most nominated publisher this year with 16 nominations, while Square Enix and Xbox follow behind with 12 apiece, and Sega with 11. You can check out the full list of nominees below.

The Game Awards are set for December 12.

GAME OF THE YEAR

  • Astro Bot
  • Balatro
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST GAME DIRECTION

  • Astro Bot
  • Balatro
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST NARRATIVE

  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
  • Silent Hill 2

BEST ART DIRECTION

  • Astro Bot
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Neva

BEST SCORE AND MUSIC

  • Astro Bot
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Silent Hill 2 
  • Stellar Blade

BEST AUDIO DESIGN

  • Astro Bot
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
  • Silent Hill 2

BEST PERFORMANCE

  • Briana White as Aerith (Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth)
  • Hannah Telle as Max (Life is Strange: Double Exposure)
  • Humberly Gonzalez as Kay (Star Wars Outlaws)
  • Luke Roberts as James (Silent Hill 2)
  • Melina Juergens as Senua (Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2)

GAMES FOR IMPACT

  • Closer the Distance
  • Indika
  • Neva
  • Life is Strange: Double Exposure
  • Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
  • Tales of Kenzera: Zau

BEST ONGOING GAME

  • Destiny 2
  • Diablo 4
  • Final Fantasy 14
  • Fortnite
  • Helldivers 2

BEST INDIE GAME

  • Animal Well
  • Balatro
  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
  • Neva
  • UFO 50

BEST DEBUT INDIE

  • Animal Well
  • Balatro
  • Manor Lords
  • Pacific Drive
  • The Plucky Squire

BEST MOBILE GAME

  • AFK Journey
  • Balatro
  • Wuthering Waves
  • Zenless Zone Zero
  • Pokemon: The Trading Card Game Pocket

BEST COMMUNITY SUPPORT

  • Baldur’s Gate 3
  • Final Fantasy 14
  • Fortnite
  • Helldivers 2
  • No Man’s Sky

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
  • Diablo 4
  • Dragon Age: The Veilguard
  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
  • Star Wars Outlaws

BEST VR/AR GAME

  • Arizona Sunshine Remake
  • Asgard’s Wrath 2
  • Batman: Arkham Shadow
  • Metal: Hellsinger VR
  • Metro Awakening

BEST ACTION GAME

  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
  • Helldivers 2
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
  • Stellar Blade

BEST ACTION-ADVENTURE GAME

  • Astro Bot
  • Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
  • Silent Hill 2
  • Star Wars Outlaws
  • The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

BEST ROLE-PLAYING GAME

  • Dragon’s Dogma 2
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio

BEST FIGHTING GAME

  • Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO
  • Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
  • Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
  • MultiVersus
  • Tekken 8

BEST FAMILY GAME

  • Astro Bot
  • Princess Peach: Showtime!
  • Super Mario Party Jamboree
  • The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
  • The Plucky Squire

BEST SIM/STRATEGY GAME

  • Age of Mythology: Retold
  • Frostpunk 2
  • Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
  • Manor Lords
  • Unicorn Overlord

BEST SPORTS/RACING GAME

  • F1 24
  • EA Sports FC 25
  • NBA 2K25
  • TopSpin 2K25
  • WWE 2K24

BEST MULTIPLAYER GAME

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
  • Helldivers 2
  • Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
  • Super Mario Party Jamboree
  • Tekken 8

BEST ADAPTATION

  • Arcane
  • Fallout
  • Knuckles
  • Like a Dragon: Yakuza
  • Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
  • Ghost of Yotei
  • Grand Theft Auto 6
  • Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
  • Monster Hunter Wilds
]]> 604394 Balatro Launches for iOS and Android on September 26 https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-launches-for-ios-and-android-on-september-26 Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:08:19 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=598126 Balatro came out of nowhere earlier this year, but instantly, the game endeared itself to the masses with its dangerously addictive poker-inspired roguelike gameplay loop. Amidst the success that it was enjoying, solo developer LocalThunk and publisher Playstack announced in March that the game would also be releasing for iPhone at some point, and now a release date for its mobile version (including for Android devices) has been announced.

Playstack has announced with a new trailer that Balatro will be launching for mobile devices later this month, on September 26. It is currently available for pre-order on the App Store and the Google Play Store, and is also available via Apple Arcade. Check out the trailer below. 

In August, LocalThunk dropped a new patch for Balatro that added new collaboration content based on The Witcher 3, Among Us, and more. The game is also set to receive another major gameplay update for free sometime in 2025.

Balatro is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. 

]]> 598126 Balatro Update Adds Collaborations with The Witcher 3, Among Us, and More https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-update-adds-collaborations-with-the-witcher-3-among-us-and-more Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:31:58 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=597293 While LocalThunk’s Balatro has a major gameplay update coming next year, it dropped a big patch during the recent Nintendo Indie World Showcase. Available now on all platforms, the Friends of Jimbo update brings collaborations with titles like Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors, Among Us, and, most surprisingly, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Check out the trailer below.

The update essentially allows changing the skins of cards to characters from these titles. For example, instead of the Kings, Queens, and Jacks, you can have Geralt, Yennefer, Dracula, a Crewmate, and Dave. It doesn’t seem like the collaborations offer any significant game-changing mechanics, but they do look cool.

Balatro is available for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5, with over two million units sold as of August. Interestingly, this is only the second announcement out of three for the rogue-like title. Another is forthcoming, so stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks

]]> 597293 Balatro Sells Over 2 Million Units, Free Major Gameplay Update Coming 2025 https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-sells-over-2-million-units-free-major-gameplay-update-coming-2025 Wed, 07 Aug 2024 16:32:45 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=595495 LocalThunk’s poker-inspired roguelike sensation Balatro is continuing to see its sales increasing at a steady pace. As of March this year, the game had sold over a million units within a month of release, and the developer has now offered another update on its sales. 

Taking to Twitter, LocalThunk has announced that Balatro has now sold over 2 million units worldwide, illustrating the impressive pace at which the game has continued to sell. The developer has, additionally, also confirmed that Balatro will be getting its first major gameplay update sometime in 2025. 

What exactly the update will entail remains to be seen, but as per the developer, it’s going to “bring new ideas and strategies to the game”. It’s also confirmed that the update is going to be free for everyone “as a token of huge appreciation to the game’s brilliant and passionate community”.

Balatro is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It is also in development for iPhone.

]]> 595495 Balatro’s New Update is Now in Beta on PC, Brings Balance Changes and Update to Engine https://gamingbolt.com/balatros-new-update-is-now-in-beta-on-pc-brings-balance-changes-and-update-to-engine Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:03:03 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=583913 Developer LocalThunk has released the first major update for Balatro on the game’s beta branch. Slated for release in the coming weeks, the update can currently tried out by anyone that owns Balatro on Steam by switching to the game’s beta branch.

The update brings with it a host of tweaks and changes, as well as an update to the game’s Love2D game engine improving performance on Windows and Steam Deck. The game is also seeing changes to how its ante scales depending on your chosen stake.

The majority of the update revolves around making smaller balance changes, like changing when Vagabond applies its effects, or how much the Cloud 9 or Mail-In Rebate cost. Check out the full patch notes below.

Since its release, Balatro has been quite successful. The game sold 500,000 copies in just the first ten days of its release, before ultimately going on to sell over a million copies. The success of Balatro has also prompted the developer to work on an iPhone version of the game.

Balatro 1.0.1 patch notes:

  • Updated version of Love2D – this fixed an issue on Windows and Steam Deck causing poor/stuttery performance for some players
  • Added toggle for ‘Reduced Motion’, removing the swirly background and gyrating card motion
  • Changed default fallback tarot from Fool to Strength (when all tarots are on screen)
  • Changed Gold Stake random seeds – now ensures that the first Legendary Joker on that seed is a Joker that you have not won with on Gold Stake (For Completionist++ hunting)
  • Changed ante scaling in white stake:
    • Ante 3: 2800 -> 2000
    • Ante 4: 6000 -> 5000
  • Changed ante scaling in green stake:
    • Ante 2: 1000 -> 900
    • Ante 3: 3200 -> 2400
    • Ante 4: 9000 -> 7000
  • Changed ante scaling in purple stake:
    • Ante 2: 1200 -> 1000
    • Ante 3: 3600 -> 3000
    • Ante 4: 10000 -> 8000
    • Ante 5: 25000 -> 22000
  • Changed Orange Stake
    • Scrapped increasing pack cost
    • Added new ‘Perishable’ mechanic, Jokers have a 30% chance to have a ‘Perishable’ sticker, disabling them after 5 rounds
  • Changed Gold Stake
    • Scrapped -1 hand size
    • Added new ‘Rental’ mechanic, Jokers have a 30% chance to have a ‘Rental’ sticker (stacks with eternal/perishable), making them cost $1 up front and $3 every round
  • Changed eternal to apply to Jokers in Buffoon packs
  • Changed the first shop in every run to always include a normal Buffoon pack as one of the pack options
  • Upcoming blinds/tags can now be seen in the shop immediately after defeating a boss blind/cashing out
  • Some Blinds are now be banned on challenge runs – banned Crimson Heart, Verdant Leaf and Amber Acorn on ‘Jokerless’ – banned Verdant Leaf on ‘Typecast’ – banned Verdant Leaf on ‘Non-Perishable’ – banned The Plant on ‘Mad World’
  • Buffed Saturn
    • Now gives +3 mult instead of +2 mult for Straights
  • Buffed Neptune
    • Now gives +4 mult instead of +3 mult for Straight Flush
  • Buffed Eris
    • Now gives +50 chips instead of +40 chips for Flush Five
  • Buffed Ceres
    • Now gives +4 mult instead of +3 mult for Flush House
  • Changed Uncommon tag – Now makes the uncommon joker free
  • Changed Rare tag – Now makes the rare joker free
  • Negative, Polychrome, Holo, Foil tags all make their respective joker free
  • Changed Investment to give $25 instead of $15
  • Changed 8 Ball – scrapped old effect, new effect -> 1 in 4 chance to spawn a tarot when any played 8 is scored
  • Changed Blue Seal – now creates the planet card of the final poker hand played during the round
  • Changed both Mad and Clever Joker – scrapped ‘contains 4 of a kind’ effect, now applies instead to any hand that contains a ‘Two Pair’
  • Changed Yorick – scrapped old effect, new effect -> gains X1 mult every 23 cards discarded (starts at X1)
  • Changed Magician Tarot – now applies lucky to 2 cards instead of 1
  • Changed Midas Mask – now only applies Gold enhancement to scoring face cards, costs $7 was $6
  • Changed Vampire
    • now only removes enhancement from scoring cards
    • gives X0.1 mult per enhancement instead of X0.2 mult
    • Rare instead of Uncommon
  • Changed Madness – now only applies on small/big blinds, not on boss blind selection
  • Changed To Do list – poker hand no longer changes on payout, always changes at end of round (won’t get stuck on Straight Flush)
  • Changed description of Shortcut to include a more apt example (10 8 6 5 3)
  • Changed Ancient Joker – the selected suit is no longer able to repeat between rounds
  • Changed Swashbuckler – Now adds sell value of all other Jokers to Mult, not just the Jokers to the left
  • Changed Hanging Chad – Now retriggers the first played card 2 times instead of once
  • Changed Flower Pot – Now includes the base suit of debuffed cards when determining if it will trigger
  • Changed Bootstraps to include current mult bonus in description
  • Changed all 4 Sinful Jokers (one for each suit) – they now each give +3 mult per suit instead of +4 mult
  • Changed Banner – now gives +30 chips per remaining discard instead of +40 chips
  • Changed Fibonacci – costs $8 instead of $7, because Fibonacci
  • Changed Steel Joker – Now gives X0.2 mult per Steel card in full deck instead of X0.25 mult
  • Changed Odd Todd – Now gives +31 chips per odd ranked card instead of +30 chips
  • Changed Sixth Sense – Now uncommon and $6, was rare
  • Changed Hiker – Now gives +5 chips to every scoring card played instead of +4 chips
  • Changed Gros Michel – Now has a 1 in 6 chance to go extinct instead of 1 in 4
  • Changed Seance – Now uncommon and $6, was rare and $7
  • Changed Riff-Raff – Now $6, was $4
  • Changed Vagabond
    • Rare, was uncommon
    • $8, was $6
    • Applies when you have $4 or less, was $3 or less
  • Changed Cloud 9 – Now $7, was $6
  • Changed Mail-In Rebate – Now $5 was $3
  • Changed Reserved Parking – Now common, was uncommon
  • Changed Lucky Cat – Now gains X0.25 per lucky proc, was X0.2
  • Changed Trading card – Now costs $6, was $5
  • Changed Campfire – Now gains X0.25 per card sold, was X0.5
  • Changed Smily Face – Now give +5 mult per face card, was +4 mult
  • Changed Golden Ticket – Now payes out $4 per gold card played, was $3
  • Changed Bloodstone – Now has a 1 in 2 chance to proc, was 1 in 3
  • Changed Onyx Agate – Now gives +7 mult per club card, was +8 mult
  • Changed Glass Joker – Now gives X0.75 mult per glass card destroyed, was X0.5 mult
  • Changed Stuntman – Now gives +250 Chips, was +300
  • Changed Invisible Joker – Now requires 2 rounds and costs $8, was 3 rounds and $10
  • Changed Burnt Joker – Now is rare, was uncommon
  • Changed wording on most scaling jokers to refer to ‘this joker’
  • Fixed bug where opening a booster pack with hand size of 0 was unskippable
  • Fixed bug where the card generated by ‘Certificate’ was not being debuffed by the boss
]]> 583913 Balatro is in Development for iPhone https://gamingbolt.com/balatro-is-in-development-for-iphone Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:13:37 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=582022 2024 has been the year of surprise hits so far, and though Balatro hasn’t seen the kind of astounding success that the likes of Palworld and Helldivers 2 have seen, it, too, has caught a lot of people off-guard.

Currently sitting at a Metacritic score of 90, the positive reception and strong word of mouth surrounding the game has attracted people in strong numbers, and Balatro’s solo developer LocalThunk is looking to capitalize on that success and expand the game’s player base by bringing it to more potential players.

Speaking to iMore, LocalThunk recently confirmed that Balatro is in development for iPhone. The developer did not, however, provide further details on the port or when it will be out, potentially indicating that it might still be in the early stages of development. It also remains to be seen whether a Android release will also accompany the game’s iPhone version.

Balatro is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. It has sold over 1 million units worldwide.

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