Vedinad, developer of Megabonk, has withdrawn his game from The Game Awards following its nomination for Best Debut Indie Game, saying it doesn’t qualify for the category.
In a post to Twitter/X from the official Megabonk account, vedinad made the announcement today:
“I’m withdrawing from The Game Awards.
“It’s an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, but unfortunately i don’t think it qualifies for the category ‘Debut Indie Game’
“I’ve made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game 🥸
“i really appreciate the nomination, support and votes, but it doesn’t feel right in this category. you should vote for another one of the amazing debut titles, they are all amazing games!
“thanks again! new megabonk update coming soon ✌️”
Update 2.23pm PT: Megabonk was listed as a nominee under Best Debut Indie, along with Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Despelote, and Dispatch. Since this statement, The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley has shared a statement of his own acknowledging the request and stating that Megabonk would be removed in a Twitter/X post. At the time of this update, Megabonk was still listed on The Game Awards website as a nominee.
“@MegabonkGame, a nominee for Best Debut Indie Game, reached out to clarify that he is an established solo developer who had been presenting himself as a new creator under the name Vedinad.
“We’re grateful for his honesty. As a result, MegaBonk will be removed from the category.
“He’ll share more about his story when he’s ready, but we respect that he didn’t want to take recognition away from other debut teams — even though the game itself is outstanding.”
Original story continues below:
Critically, Best Debut Indie is awarded to the “best debut game created by a new independent studio.” So what counts as a new, independent studio? This definition certainly can get a little fuzzy – game dev teams are often Ships of Theseus, with certain groups sticking together, hiring others, and rebranding. For instance, Dispatch was made by AdHoc Studio, and is the team’s collective first original game. However, AdHoc was founded by a team of former Ubisoft and Telltale developers who had previously been working together. Cocoon, by Geometric Interactive, won Debut Indie back in 2023 and was arguably in a similar situation with former developers from Playdead. But by that logic, it’s also unlikely anyone’s “first game” would ever make it to The Game Awards, as most people’s first projects are small, student, or experimental.
Vedinad’s argument at least makes a bit more sense for himself, given that he is effectively a solo developer and has worked on other projects under other names. But even solo developers have help: Miguel Angel, for instance, is credited with the OST, Giovanni Fim made the Steam art, and there are a handful of names listed as playtesters, as well as a “special thanks” to vedinad’s mom. Vedinad seems to be as close to a solo dev as anyone really gets. What really is a game studio, anyway?
What this ultimately seems to boil down to is that there’s at least some level of confusion about what the categories of The Game Awards actually mean. This isn’t the first time this has happened. In 2023, Dave the Diver – a game made by a subsidiary of Korean gaming giant Nexon – was up for Best Indie, leading TGA creator Geoff Keighley to respond that indie can “mean different things to different people,” and even the director admitted the nomination was confusing. We’ve also seen some oddities like Sifu being up for Best Fighting Game in 2022 (it’s an action beat-em-up), and even some recent eyebrow raisers like Monster Hunter Wilds being nominated this year for best RPG.
Define it all however you want, but Megabonk’s developer has spoken, as has Keighley. You can catch up on all the other 2025 nominees right here, and check out our early thoughts on Megabonk here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
