While the penchant for larger corporations acquiring smaller video game studios / companies has fallen in recent years, as long as there is a successful product, there will be some parties who are interested in getting in on the action. Such is the case with VantageCo: a subsidiary of the investment firm IMC who is now proposing to acquire the publisher behind indie hit Balatro ‘Playstack’.

As reported by the publication Gamedeveloper.com, Playstack’s owner TruFin recently announced that they had entered into a proposed sale of the publisher, letting go control of 84.5% of Playstack.

Said to be valued at $169 million in total, the publisher is set to be sold to VantageCO – a subsidiary of Integrated Media Company (IMC).

For the uninitiated, IMC is an investment firm who has over the years acquired a ton of known properties, including Fandom; Screen Junkies; Fanatical and even GameSpot. The company also owns a number of other adjacent brands in the football and ecommerce sector.

Playstack of course is known best for publishing the highly popular poker-esque rogue-like Balatro, but they have also released a bunch of other indies including Void Breaker; Abiotic Factor; Raccoin; and the upcoming Mortal Shell II.

According to the released timetable, TruFin expects the sale to be completed come the 10th of June, assuming shareholders accept the deal. Either way, it will be interesting to see what becomes of Playstack in the wake of this impending sale.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Playstack as a publisher? Is this the right move for them? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Balatro is yet another hit indie rogue-like to have been released in the past couple years, with the Poker-inspired deck-builder selling millions of copies across its suite of platforms. Released for the OG Nintendo Switch back in early 2024, Balatro has now gotten a free Switch 2 Edition upgrade, adding full mouse mode support, a framerate bump and more.

In a surprise release, a Switch 2 version of Balatro recently landed on the Nintendo eShop. Being offered a free upgrade for those who already own it on Switch 1, the listing itself does not go into any details regarding what enhancements players can expect.

That said, the publication Nintendo Life has confirmed that the Switch 2 release includes full support for the system’s mouse mode – a welcome addition given the game’s card-based nature. Other noted enhancements include supposed support for HD Rumble 2 as well as a more smooth 60fps.

Oddly enough however, it appears as though the Switch 2 edition does not include any option to transfer over your progress from Switch 1. Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later.

Regardless, Balatro is a highly addictive and replayable game, and worth experiencing on any system, be it the Switch 1; Switch 2; mobile; PC or wherever else. Now we just have to remain patient for the long-awaited update 1.1.

KitGuru says: Are you a big Balatro player? What’s your preferred platform to play on? Is the lack of save data transfer a dealbreaker? Let us know your thoughts down below.