Balatro Developer Comments on Update 1.1 Progress

Developer LocalThunk has just confirmed that they’re still actively working on the Balatro 1.1 update. This official comment comes via a new blog post on LocalThunk’s website which celebrates Balatro‘s second birthday by shedding more light on the developer’s life as a student.

Back in August 2024, LocalThunk announced that Balatro would receive a “major gameplay update” in the future, one that would “bring new ideas and strategies to the game.” This has since become known as Balatro‘s 1.1 update, and it was initially slated for a 2025 release. But in September 2025, LocalThunk confirmed via a blog post titled ‘I’m Slow’ that the 1.1 update would not be releasing by the end of the year. LocalThunk explained that they’re a “hobbyist developer at heart,” and that they’d rather spend just a few hours a day working on the 1.1 update than spending 12 hours a day on it, like they were with the full game just prior to its February 2024 release. To avoid disappointing fans, LocalThunk has stated that the new release window for Balatro‘s 1.1 update is simply “when it’s done.”

New Steam Game is Like Balatro Meets Scrabble

This new Steam game blends the high-octane addictive gameplay of Balatro with the classic word-combo strategizing of Scrabble.

LocalThunk Gives Official Statement on Balatro 1.1 Update

Published on February 20, 2026 to mark Balatro‘s second anniversary, LocalThunk’s latest blog post ends with a very brief message from the developer simply saying, “P.S. Yes I’m still working on 1.1.” This is obviously a very straightforward statement that doesn’t really shed any new light on the update or its content, but it is the first official statement regarding the update that LocalThunk has given since Balatro‘s 1.1 delay in September 2025.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

LocalThunk Reflects on College Life and Their First Video Game Project

The vast majority of LocalThunk’s most recent blog post sees the developer sharing details of their university education. The blog post begins with the Balatro creator candidly discussing their decision to drop out of an engineering degree during their final year as they “just didn’t have the passion for it.” Instead, LocalThunk would sign up for a computer science degree as they had taken an introductory lesson a few semesters prior and had found a love for programming. They go on to describe their “obsession” with creating a variety of programs — projects that would see them working long into the night and often until the early hours of the next morning. In LocalThunk’s own words, “It was the best time of my life.”

LocalThunk then shares details of their very first video game project, a “land-grab simulation” inspired by Risk and Europa Universalis. The developer continued working on this ambitious project throughout their time at university, writing code at the back of classrooms and during their part-time work. While the game was never completed and was only ever shown to a handful of friends and family members, LocalThunk states that the feeling of creative freedom they had while working on it is why they kept game development as a hobby years later.

LocalThunk’s blog post ends with the Balatro developer reflecting on the version of themselves that tried to create that strategy game years ago. They state that even if they could warn their past self about everything that was on the horizon, they’re not sure what they could have said to properly prepare them. Just prior to the confirmation that the Balatro 1.1 update is still in active development, LocalThunk shares this piece of sentimental introspection:

“With all the success, baggage, attention, heartache, fear, stress, and joy that I’ve had since Balatro was created, at least that old version of myself is still there. Last night I stayed up until the early hours of the morning drawing pixel art, writing code, and listening to music in my quiet house. Notebook of ideas open next to me, cup of decaf in hand…Thank you to everyone for allowing this terrible student to keep staying up too late.”