Balatro yet again subject to mods’ poor understanding of “gambling”
Balatro is certainly habit-forming, but there's nothing to be won or lost, other than time, by playing it. While the game has you using standard playing cards and poker hands as part of its base mechanics, it does not have in-app purchases, loot boxes, or any kind of online play or enticement to gambling, beyond the basics of risk and reward.
Yet many YouTube creators had their Balatro videos set to the traffic-dropping "Age-restricted" status recently, allegedly due to "depictions or promotions of casino websites or apps," with little recourse for appeal.
A spokesperson for YouTube told Ars after this post was originally published that the videos should not be age-restricted, and that the service was "fixing the issue and conducting a platform-wide review."
© Bob Peterson/Getty Images
