Developer Balatro's comment on update 1.1 progress

The developer LocalThunk just confirmed that they are still actively working on it Balatro update 1.1. This official comment comes via a new blog post on LocalThunk celebrating Balatro's second birthday by shedding more light on the developer's life as a student.

In August 2024, LocalThunk reported that Balatro it will receive a “major game update” in the future that would “bring new ideas and strategies to the game”. This has since become known as Balatroupdate 1.1 and was originally planned for release in 2025. But in September 2025, LocalThunk confirmed via a blog post titled “I'm Slow” that update 1.1 would not be released until the end of the year. LocalThunk explained that they are “hobbyist developers at heart” and that they would rather spend just a few hours a day working on the 1.1 update than spend 12 hours a day on it, as was the case with the full game right before its February 2024 release. To avoid disappointing fans, LocalThunk stated that the new release window for BalatroThe 1.1 update is simply “when it's ready”.

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A new game on Steam is like Balatro Meets Scrabble

This new game on Steam combines the high-octane addictive game of Balatro with the classic word combo strategy of Scrabble.

LocalThunk provides an official statement about the Balatro 1.1 update

Posted on February 20, 2026 to tag BalatroThe last post on the LocalThunk blog for the second anniversary ends with a very short message from the developer: “PS 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's the first official update LocalThunk has released since BalatroDelayed 1.1 in September 2025.

Who is that character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who is 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 the latest LocalThunk blog post has the developer sharing details about his college education. The blog post starts at Balatro the creator has openly discussed his decision to abandon his engineering degree during his final year because they “just didn't have the passion for it”. Instead, LocalThunk would sign up for computer science because they took an introductory class a few semesters ago and found a love for programming. They go on to describe their “obsession” with creating various programs – projects that would see them working late into the night and often into 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 its very first video game project, inspired by a “land grab simulation.” Risk and Europa Universalis. The developer continued to work on this ambitious project throughout his time at university, writing code in the back of classrooms and during his part-time job. While the game was never finished and was only ever shown to a handful of friends and family members, LocalThunk reports that the sense of creative freedom they had while working on it is why they kept game development as a hobby years later.

A LocalThunk blog post ends with the suffix Balatro developers reflecting on the version of themselves that tried to make this strategy game years ago. They state that even if they could have warned their past selves of whatever was on the horizon, they aren't sure what they could have said to properly prepare them. Just before confirming that Balatro With update 1.1 still in active development, LocalThunk shares this piece of sentimental introspection:

“With all the success, baggage, attention, heartache, fear, stress, and joy I've had since Balatro was created, at least the old version of me is here. Last night I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, drawing pixel art, writing code, and listening to music in my quiet house. Next to me, an open notebook of ideas, a decaf mug in hand, which allows me to stay too late.”