The boundary between hobbyist and professional is a tricky one–especially in creative fields. In balancing the demands of work and creative joy, LocalThunk, lone developer of 2024’s smash hit roguelike poker game Balatro, has announced that the anticipated 1.1 update won’t arrive this year.
“I am working slowly,” LocalThunk said 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.” In the post, LocalThunk does as much as possible to assure folks 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 approach 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 did not share a timeline for when to expect the update, simply stating, “It’s done when it’s done.”
That sounds ominous, but don’t fret. In the same post, LocalThunk shares that not only is he still “drawing my silly jokers” in a “notebook that is now teeming with ideas to implement or test in the game,” but that after finally unlocking all achievements in the game, “the Balatro player in me will absolutely not allow me to walk away from developing this game.”
Rather than complaining about the delay, some fans of Balatro have shared positive sentiments regarding 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 hit last year, so it’s no surprise that folks are hungry for more. Still, it’s nice to see folks extending some grace, encouraging a dev to take their time to appropriately channel their creative energies into something meaningful and not rushed.
