Balatro began as a small hobby project but has since garnered multiple awards and millions of copies sold. Despite its success, the developer, LocalThunk, prefers to maintain anonymity and a low profile.

In an interview, Playstack’s communications director, Wout van Halderen, elaborated on LocalThunk’s desire for privacy, stating, “For LocalThunk himself, he’s already a person who doesn’t really like the spotlight, and now it’s a lot harder to deal with that kind of pressure. I think his choice to be anonymous from the beginning is helping him now in the long run.”

Van Halderen noted that while many observers have misconstrued this anonymity as an intentional publicity stunt, it is genuinely a request from LocalThunk to be left alone to create and live his life. The choice to remain out of the limelight has allowed him to enjoy a normal life away from the pressures of fame.

“He’s a Canadian man. So if he goes to a party and people ask about the game, they probably mean the hockey game, because they don’t connect him to his game at all.”

This approach allows LocalThunk to keep his life and work separate, which van Halderen views as a luxury in today’s social media-driven world.