The overwhelming success of Balatro was one of the biggest stories of 2024 and a life-changing event for solo dev LocalThunk. However, LocalThunk is still only one man and he’s revealed that his previously promised Balatro 1.1 update will not be arriving this year.
LocalThunk explained the reasons for the delay in a lengthy message on his official site, but it ultimately boils down to the name of his post: “I’m Slow.” He apologized to players for the delay before expressing his desire to avoid repeating the crunch mode of 12-hour days he put in when Balatro was approaching launch and stated that he prefers to treat the work as a hobby rather than a job.
“I still love drawing my silly jokers,” wrote LocalThunk. “I carry around a notebook that is now teeming with ideas to implement or test in the game, and thankfully I still consider this my hobby, but the prospect of rushing the work and going back into crunch mode to get it out this year just felt terrible. I am working slowly, but I like it that way. I love getting sucked into rabbit holes and I don’t like trying to force things creatively.”
LocalThunk noted that he only recently reached 100% of the achievements in his own game, which made him excited about the prospect of doing it again after the 1.1 update is complete. He also assured fans that it will happen, but the 1.1 update won’t be released until it’s ready.
Balatro was one of GameSpot’s best games of 2024, and it also lined up awards at the 2025 DICE Awards, New York Game Awards 2025, and The Game Awards 2024 before winning Game of the Year at the Game Developers Choice Awards.
