Balatro scored major Game Awards nominations, after which sales spiked

Balatroan addictive poker-themed roguelike, released on September 26 on iOS and Android devices and earned almost $1 million in its first weekaccording to AppMagic estimates, matching the breakout success from its PC debut earlier this year. Turnover naturally declined because developer LocalThunkpredatory monetizationThis is common in mobile games, only to surge again to earn $727,000 in a week (over $4 million in total) after The Game Awards announced its nominations on November 18, again according to AppMagic estimates.

Publisher Playstack could not comment on the sales figures, but told Polygon via email Balatro‘s daily active players have seen a “significant spike” since the news broke. “It’s been wonderful to see the conversations happening around the game and we’re honestly glad we can all be a part of it!” a representative said.

“The more time passes, the more I feel like I just happened to win the game developer lottery,” LocalThunk told Polygon when the nominations were revealed. “I’d like to think the game has appeal, but I think that appeal pales in comparison to the incredible other nominees.”