Video game won’t include ‘lesbian’ romance anytime soon, developer says
Balatro lesbian yuri is not on the cards. (Balatro/LocalThunk)
Balatro fans are collectively distraught after its solo developer said the massively popular card game wouldn’t include lesbian ‘yuri’ any time soon.
The poker-themed roguelike game’s anonymous developer, known online as LocalThunk, tragically said “Nope!” to requests that the latest content update acknowledge the lesbian ship between two of the game’s Joker cards.
In Balatro, Jokers are special cards that change the game’s mechanics in a variety of different ways. Their effects can work in tandem with other Joker cards and stack in a variety of ways.
One of the most popular synergies is between the rare cards Brainstorm, which copies the effect of the leftmost Joker card, and Blueprint, which copies the effect of the Joker to its immediate right. Putting these two cards together copies a card’s effect several times over, which can be incredibly useful.
Because of this, fans began jokingly shipping the two cards as a lesbian couple in a variety of memes, drawings, and other fan creations.
Addressing the meme, LocalThunk posted to X, formerly Twitter, with the tragic news that he would not be acknowledging the lesbian card girls in the upcoming 1.1 update.
“It’s come to my attention that people [have] created a ship consisting of the Jokers Blueprint and Brainstorm from my game,” they said. “I believe it’s my duty to tell you all that there will be no Bluestorm yuri in the 1.1 update. I’m sorry everyone, but for me to implement sesbian lex it will take eight more years.”
Yuri is a literary genre of Japanese media which focuses on intimate relationships between female characters. While Balatro is not Japanese, the term is used colloquially in gaming circles to discuss sapphic media generally.
The news hit harder than a third-consecutive miss on a Wheel of Fortune card. Disappointed fans insisted they would wait another eight years to confront the developer on his promise.
Another user joked that they would simply do it themselves by creating and publishing a modification for the game.
In fact, a mod for Balatro to acknowledge the fan ship was already created in January last year. The Yuri Blueprint Brainstorm mod changes the card’s art to make their respective Jokers look more feminine.
We’ll be waiting to see that content update in 2034 alongside Balatro’s five million other players, LocalThunk.
Share your story! Do you have an important, exciting or uplifting story to tell? Email us at [email protected]
