Megabonk was quite the sleeper hit this year. For a little while, you really couldn't escape the action-roguelike's pull on Steam or streaming platforms like Twitch. It saw an all-time player peak of over 117,000 and pulled in over 48,000 positive reviews on Steam.
It probably wasn't too surprising to players then when Megabonk was included as one of the nominees for Best Debut Indie for The Game Awards 2025. The problem here is that the game's developer, Vedinad doesn't believe Megabonk should qualify for Debut Indie Game.
In a couple of posts made to social media (Nitter), Vedinad says that he has "made games in the past under different studio names" and that technically "Megabonk is not my debut game."
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
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
The Game Awards officially classifies Best Debut Indie as "the best debut game created by a new independent studio." The question then is: What qualifies as an independent (Indie) developer? Is it the size of the team? Lack of backing from big publishers? Or is it simply a matter that the studio isn't owned by a larger company such as Microsoft, Sony, Embracer, and the like?
Similar questions came up at The Game Awards 2023 when Dave the Diver was nominated for Best Independent Game. That game's developer, Mintrocket, is a subsidiary of Nexon. There was a lot of heated debate about Dave the Diver's nomination, though ultimately, Sea of Stars won for Best Independent Game during those awards.
Even among the other Best Debut Indie titles for this year's awards, the definition of "Indie" is muddled. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was developed by Sandfall Interactive, a studio formed by former Ubisoft employee Guillaume Broche. There are officially about 35 employees at Sandfall. However, there were significant parts of the game development that were outsourced to other companies. External quality assurance (QA) testers were used. Parts of the localization, art, and animation were also handled by external teams. Is Expedition 33 still "Indie?" The same argument could be made for Dispatch from AdHoc Studios. AdHoc is a small team made up of former Telltale, Ubisoft, and Night School Studio veterans. Some part of Dispatch's animation was handled by Igloo Studio, and the PlayStation port was handled by Plastic Fern Studios.
Again, the definition of "Indie" is so obscure these days. If Vedinad wants Megabonk removed from the list of nominees, The Game Awards should respect his wishes and remove it.
Ultimately, none of The Game Awards really matter. The Game Awards have always been less about the awards, less about the winners, less about the teams behind these much loved titles, and more about the marketing and promotion. Also, if you haven't seen anything about the situation with The Game Awards' Future Class, it would be worth reading up on.
