The boundary between hobbyist {and professional} is a difficult one–particularly in artistic fields. In balancing the calls for of labor and artistic pleasure, LocalThunk, lone developer of 2024’s smash hit roguelike poker sport Balatro, has introduced that the anticipated 1.1 replace received’t arrive this yr.
“I am working slowly,” LocalThunk mentioned in a blog post apologizing for the delayed update, “but I like it that way.” The solo dev shared that, upon reflection, he “probably shouldn’t have announced any date for the 1.1 update at all,” stating that he “took a break from everything to do with the game for a few months until the start of 2025.” Within the submit, LocalThunk does as a lot as potential to guarantee of us that he ‘s committed to producing more Balatro in the future, but hitting a 2025 deadline for the update interfered with what he thinks is “the best version of ‘work,’” which is an strategy that avoids burnout and “makes me want to come back to my keyboard every day, healthy, and hopefully just as excited about game development five years from now as I am today.” He added, “I don’t want 1.1 to be the last update this game gets.”
LocalThunk didn’t share a timeline for when to count on the replace, merely stating, “It’s done when it’s done.”
That sounds ominous, however don’t fret. In the identical submit, LocalThunk shares that not solely is he nonetheless “drawing my silly jokers” in a “notebook that is now teeming with ideas to implement or test in the game,” however that after lastly unlocking all achievements within the sport, “the Balatro player in me will absolutely not allow me to walk away from developing this game.”
Relatively than complaining in regards to the delay, some followers of Balatro have shared positive sentiments concerning the wait. “Take your time. Balatro is great 💜” reads one reply on X. “The only reason people are as excited as they are for 1.1 is because you had the chance to take your time when working on Balatro,” reads another.
Balatro was a success final yr, so it’s no shock that people are hungry for extra. Nonetheless, it’s good to see of us extending some grace, encouraging a dev to take their time to appropriately channel their artistic energies into one thing significant and never rushed.
