Megabonk developer vedinad has announced the withdrawal of the indie hit from consideration for Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards 2025. This announcement comes only a day after the reveal of The Game Awards 2025 nominees on November 17, wherein fans could begin voting for their choice of winner for each award category.
Released back in September, Megabonk has been described as a “3D Vampire Survivors-like” game and has quickly become a standout entry in the popular survivor-like genre. An impressive feat for solo developer vedinad, Megabonk‘s all-time concurrent player count on Steam peaked at over 117,000 players back in October. With Megabonk withdrawing its nomination, the remaining nominees for Best Debut Indie Game include:
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Despelote
- Dispatch
Megabonk Withdraws Best Debut Indie Game Nomination from The Game Awards 2025
In a post on Megabonk‘s official X account, vedinad has confirmed that they are withdrawing the game from consideration at The Game Awards 2025 for Best Debut Indie Game. While vedinad is thankful for the support of the community in getting this nomination, they believe that it is unfair to other nominees that Megabonk be considered as a debut indie game, as they have developed other games under different names in the past. The post goes on to encourage fans to support the other Best Debut Indie Game nominees instead.
On a hopeful note, vedinad adds that players can expect a new update for Megabonk coming soon. Players who are disappointed that Megabonk won’t be considered for Best Debut Indie Game still have this little teaser to get excited for in the game’s future.
The Game Awards 2025 is already drawing some controversy in several other categories, with some fans believing a title like ARC Raiders has been snubbed for awards such as Best Audio Design and Game of the Year. The nominations for Best Performance have also been divisive, with some fans believing that three nominations are too many for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to have in one category. Despite these controversies, Megabonk‘s withdrawal from consideration is the only one of this year’s nominations so far.
Although it was nominated for Best Debut Indie Game, Megabonk was not nominated for the Best Independent Game category. There is some overlap between these two categories, with the nominees being:
- Absolum
- Ball x Pit
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Hades 2
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
Both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Blue Prince were nominated for Best Debut Indie Game and Best Independent Game. Fellow Best Debut Indie Game Nominee Despelote was also nominated for the Games for Impact award.
Unfortunately, Best Debut Indie Game was the only award Megabonk was nominated for, meaning its withdrawal from this category leaves the game ineligible to win any of the current award categories. There is still some hope for Megabonk fans, as the game has the chance to win the Player’s Voice award, which is decided entirely by player votes. Voting for the Player’s Voice award has not opened at this time, so there is still the potential for the Megabonk community to rally around this game to earn it the award.
- Location
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Los Angeles, California
- Dates
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Annual
