Why the Balatro developer remains anonymous

Balrato I just won four Game Developers Choice Awards, including the game of the year, but the person who made the game was not on stage to accept them.

On the other hand, Playstack Wout Van Haldren Communications Director spoke on behalf of Balrato's Developer, which passes through the Alias ​​Locothunk, every time the game won an award. “The team does that to give LoctyBK the freedom to work in the style we like, that we respect,” says PlayStack Marketing Director Liz Cheng-More The edge. “That is our job,” adds Van Haldren.

It is an arrangement that the Playstack team discovered with Lozathunk before other ceremonies such as the game awards, where Balrato He won three awards and was nominated for the game of the year. Locthunk did not want to be public, but I didn't want to be disrespectful with fans and industry either, so now the Playstack team accepts its awards in its name.

Locthunk was at the Game Developer Conference this week meeting with other developers, but Van Haldren and Cheng-More think that it will generally remain in the public anonymity. Not that he wants to be The next Banksy, Cheng-More says. He only prefers not to be at the center of attention.

His mystery extends to how he communicates with the team and makes games. For example, Cheng-More tells me that Your recent blog It was something that spoke one day and launched the next. “It's completely done by him,” says Cheng-More.

And with BalratoThe next game update, which will be released at some point in this year, “I think it will only surprise us one day and will say: 'Hello, here is the construction 1.1',” says Van Haldren. “I think he works better with that freedom, because that's how he did Balrato first of all. He had no deadlines, or stress. I could play, and that's how magic happened. “

Van Haldren adds that “I have not seen a single thing I am working on. And I like it because it will also surprise me.”