London, August 27th, 2024 – Playstack and LocalThunk are excited to announce the first collaboration pack for Balatro, revealed during the Nintendo Indie World Showcase. Starting today, players can personalize their decks with new cosmetic card skins inspired by fan-favorite characters from The Witcher 3, Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors, and Among Us. This update is now available free of charge on PC & consoles, adding some visual flair to the game by allowing players to replace the traditional face cards—Kings, Queens, and Jacks—with beloved characters like Geralt, Yennefer, and Jaskier from The Witcher.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qChMssQkk3M
The Friends of Jimbo surprise is the second of three major announcements about Balatro this summer, with the first one being the promise of a major content update in 2025, revealed earlier this month.
The new cosmetic cards are optional and can be unlocked in the new deck settings menu where players can customize their decks with the new cards. This “Friends of Jimbo” card update is the first of a series, with more new exciting cards to come later this year.
LocalThunk, the developer of Balatro says “It was surreal having these conversations. Some of the biggest names in gaming praising my little project and wanting to collaborate—absolutely wild. I’m glad we made it happen!”
“The love from other developers was incredible. It highlights what connects us—a shared passion for cool games and that support gave us the opportunity to reach out and say, ‘Hey, let’s do something cool together.” Wout van Halderen, PR Manager at Playstack adds.
“Very happy to finally have this collaboration out in the open as the second of our three big surprises this summer, and I promise, the last one is also going to a banger”.
Big Balatro Summer
An upcoming physical version called “Balatro Special Edition” was announced in June on the Giant Bombcast, due to be released later in the year, and a new merch store went live in the same month.
Keep your eyes peeled across Balatro’s Discord and Twitter channels over the upcoming weeks to see the final card flip over and reveal the last major surprise we have in store.
This collaboration is just the latest in a series of successes for Playstack in 2024. With the survival crafting game Abiotic Factor releasing in May to a spectacular response, becoming Playstack’s second-fastest selling game in the company’s eight-year history with 600,000 unit sales and counting. Abiotic Factor also earned an “overwhelmingly positive” rating on Steam, and Playstack will continue supporting the title’s bright future with numerous expansions underway.
Playstack has at least one more title slated for release this year, with the highly anticipated The Rise of the Golden Idol due for release in Q4.
