Balatro was already a huge success when he first introduced his cards in February, but a lot has changed since then. The poker-themed roguelike went viral. It was a great candidate for game of the year. Everyone and their mothers got hooked on cell phones. And all that momentum has meant that it has now surpassed its previous player peak on Steam.
Balatro first hit a concurrent player peak of around 37,000 Joker Hunters when it came out earlier this year, but just yesterday, the game broke its own record and had over 38,000 people in the game at once, a full 10 months. after. its debut, according to SteamDB.
The game's creator, LocalThunk, celebrated the news on social media. “Thanks to a crazy December with the Game Awards, two Steam sales, Christmas, and a Markiplier video, we surpassed our all-time peak concurrent players on Steam,” they tweeted. “The previous peak was around launch in February.” Balatro won big at The Game Awards, taking home three trophies, and Markiplier's aforementioned video, “My New Crippling Addiction,” has racked up 2.5 million views in less than a week, obviously taking the game to new heights.
I think that's Balatro's biggest advantage. It's a card game, so it's obviously difficult to attract someone just by showing them a trailer. But the LocalThunk phenomenon has become so widespread because everyone who becomes infected by its contact cannot help but spread its gospel. I've seen people play this on their iPads on a plane, on their Switches on the train, I've seen videos of Balatro performances in the middle of concerts. So realistically, this probably won't be the last time Balatro will outdo himself.
In the meantime, check out some of the best roguelike games you can play right now.