Delays are a huge part of the gaming industry. With the bigger releases, they’re almost to be expected (much to the delight of the Ghost of Yotei team, in Grand Theft Auto 6’s case).

Poker roguelite Balatro is, simultaneously, a small indie release and a titan. When it released in February 2024, it quickly had all fans of the genre – and many more gamers who weren’t – utterly enthralled.

Developer LocalThunk can hardly have anticipated what a phenomenon it would become, which has surely piled on the pressure. Fans are eager to dive into the enormous 1.1 update, but they’ll have a little longer to wait.

It’s been pushed back to 2026, and a new blog post from LocalThunk, spotted by PC Gamer, explains that this is because they don’t want to push themselves too far. The developer states:

“The truth is that I probably shouldn’t have announced any date for the 1.1 update at all. I’m a hobbyist developer at heart and I love to tinker … Immediately after Balatro 1.0 came out in February 2024 I dove right in to 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.”

When 1.0 arrived, LocalThink goes on, they had been working 12-hour days on the game. To save their enthusiasm for it and to have a healthier relationship with it after the mobile release, they cut well back and arrived at a routine of putting in, as they put it in the post, “a few hours per day, and not always on the 1.1 update.”

For this reason, then, there simply won’t be time to implement version 1.1 this year. Nor is there a specific date in mind for 2026 yet.

We’ll Be Here When You’re Ready, LocalThunk

I think that’s all for the best. It’s abundantly clear that Balatro is a real labor of love for its creator, and they’ve earned the right to shape it as they see fit in a time scale that suits them.

It’s a similar situation to the ever-challenging Hollow Knight: Silksong. Fans were desperate for its release for years, to the extent that some had almost given up hope entirely. Team Cherry refused to be pinned down to a deadline and stayed the course, and the end result was something very special indeed.

So, too, is Balatro. It’s not the only deckbuilding game on the block, but it’s certainly one of the best. I do love to see teams able to take their time and announce a game’s release date when they’re ready. In the industry, sadly, this isn’t always the case.

When the 1.1 patch does arrive, I’m sure it will have been worth the wait. I was a little wary when I first tried Balatro for myself, but it very quickly rose to become one of the games I’ve enjoyed the most in recent years.

I’m excited for all the new content LocalThunk has in store, but until we have a clearer picture of when it’s coming, I’m content to keep chipping away at new stakes with all the different decks. I’ve still got a lot more to do in the game as it is.