Balatro 1.1 Misses 2025 Target as Creator Cites Burnout in Blog I’m Slow, Promises Update When It’s Ready
Balatro creator LocalThunk has pushed back the long-awaited 1.1 update and says the patch won’t arrive in 2025. Instead, the developer explains in a recent blog post that he overcommitted on timing, burned out after the launch and is now returning to the project at a much slower pace.
- Developer LocalThunk posted about the delay in a blog called I’m Slow.
- Workload and burnout after launch and a mobile port are cited as the main reasons for the delay.
- LocalThunk says 1.1 will be free on all platforms and will arrive “when it’s done.”
Why the 1.1 update was pushed back
According to the blog, LocalThunk regrets having announced a date for 1.1. He wrote, “The truth is that I probably shouldn’t have announced any date for the 1.1 update at all.” Consequently, he has removed the fixed deadline and tuned expectations.
He traces the situation to the momentum and pressure that came after the game’s rise. As he puts it, “Since the game went public in the summer of 2023 I have become all too familiar with the crunch and stress that inherently come with professional game development,” and he adds that “the struggles of pre-launch” continued even after release.
What happened after launch
LocalThunk details the post-launch schedule: Balatro 1.0 launched in February 2024, followed by a big balance patch (1.0.1) and then a mobile port. “Immediately after Balatro 1.0 came out in February 2024 I dove right into a big balance patch (1.0.1), then into the mobile port of the game right after, and by the time the mobile version came out in late 2024 I was well and truly burned out,” he wrote.
Taking a break, then coming back slowly
After the 1.0.1 update, LocalThunk took a break from Balatro development and returned in early 2025. Rather than resume long crunch sessions, he says he’s adopting his original approach as a “hobbyist developer at heart” who “love[s] to tinker,” working a few hours a day instead of twelve-hour shifts.
In his own words: “I am working slowly, but I like it that way.” He adds bluntly that, “I won’t be making the 2025 deadline I said I would. Balatro 1.1 will still come out, of that I am certain, but the new timeline is going to be it’s done when it’s done. It will be a free update for everyone on all platforms when it’s ready, and it’ll probably need some adjustments when it’s out there in the world (like 1.0 did), but that won’t be this year.”
What players can expect next
LocalThunk reassures players the update will arrive eventually and that it will be free across platforms. He also suggests there will likely be follow-up adjustments after release, similar to how 1.0 was handled.
He closes the post with a personal note to players: “The Balatro player in me will absolutely not allow me walk away from developing this game. I’m already super excited to try and 100% the game all over again from a second profile when 1.1 is ready. Rest assured, it will happen.”
