{"id":1397158,"date":"2025-11-18T22:21:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T22:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zwnLajF7CN5cuPSmjwgaxh"},"modified":"2025-11-18T22:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T22:21:22","slug":"megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Megabonk developer withdraws from &#8216;Best Debut Indie Game&#8217; nomination at The Game Awards for a pretty good reason: &#8216;It&#8217;s not my debut game&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>The Vampire Survivors-like <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/megabonk\/\">Megabonk<\/a> is one of the big indie hits of the year, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/roguelike\/vampire-survivors-like-megabonk-makes-megabucks-selling-a-million-copies-in-2-weeks-and-currently-has-more-daily-players-than-borderlands-4-on-steam-ill-be-eating-spaghetti-with-extra-sauce-tonight\/\">selling a million copies in just two weeks<\/a> and earning a nomination for best debut indie game in <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/events-conferences\/the-game-awards-nominations-are-here-and-surprise-clair-obscur-expedition-33-was-nominated-for-every-qualifying-category\/\">The Game Awards 2025<\/a>. That sort of exposure is a big deal, especially for a small indie release, but developer vedinad said they&#8217;re withdrawing from the show for one simple and very understandable reason: Megabonk isn&#8217;t actually their first game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, but unfortunately I don&#8217;t think it qualifies for the category &#8216;Debut Indie Game&#8217;,&#8221; vedinad wrote on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MegabonkGame\/status\/1990856468615061603\">X<\/a> (via Kotaku). &#8220;I&#8217;ve made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I really appreciate the nomination, support and votes, but it doesn&#8217;t feel right in this category. You should vote for another one of the amazing debut titles, they are all amazing games!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Numerous replies credit vedinad\u2014who signed off the message as John Megabonk\u2014for their honesty, but one or two invoked memories of <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/dave-the-diver\/\">Dave the Diver<\/a>, which was nominated for Best Indie Game at The Game Awards in 2023. Dave the Diver looks and plays like an indie game, but was developed by Mintrocket, a division of Korean behemoth Nexon.<\/p>\n<p>That sparked all kinds of interesting conversations about whether <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/indie-game-debate-dave-the-diver\/\">facts or vibes should determine whether an &#8216;indie game&#8217; is really indie<\/a>\u2014and in fact a year later, Dave the Diver game director Jaeho Hwang weighed in to say that as far as he&#8217;s concerned, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/adventure\/is-dave-the-diver-an-indie-game-i-would-say-no-says-game-director\/\">it&#8217;s not an indie game<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:982px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:84.32%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"sQVLQnhmcvzpsyrAEHgb95\" name=\"megabonk\" alt=\"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 \ud83e\udd78i 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 \u270c\ufe0f- john megabonk\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game.png\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"1\" width=\"982\" height=\"828\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"expandable\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Megabonk)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I think it&#8217;s also fair to acknowledge that &#8220;debut&#8221; is something of a flexible term too. Vedinad may have released other games under other studio names (he didn&#8217;t say which games, for the record, nor did he specify prior studio names) but so have other nominees: <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/dispatch\/\">Dispatch<\/a> developer AdHoc Studios, for example, was founded by veterans of Telltale, while <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/clair-obscur-expedition-33\/\">Clair Obscur: Expedition 33<\/a> studio Sandfall Interactive is headed up by ex-Ubisoft people.<\/p>\n<p>None of which is meant to suggest any sort of impropriety here, or that other developers should also remove themselves from the category: Just that the instability of the game industry can make determining what is and isn&#8217;t a &#8220;debut game&#8221; a facts-or-vibes debate of its own.<\/p>\n<p>In a message posted on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/geoffkeighley\/status\/1990899068022005881\" target=\"_blank\">X<\/a>, Game Awards host Geoff Keighley said vedinad had &#8220;reached out to clarify that he is an established solo developer who had been presenting himself as a new creator.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u2019re grateful for his honesty,&#8221; Keighley wrote. &#8220;As a result, MegaBonk will be removed from the category.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure inline-layout\" data-bordeaux-image-check >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:1920px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:112.97%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"PPLGdc28rVYDLABC86MCBR\" name=\"jjeff\" alt=\".@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\u2019re grateful for his honesty. As a result, MegaBonk will be removed from the category. He\u2019ll share more about his story when he\u2019s ready, but we respect that he didn\u2019t want to take recognition away from other debut teams \u2014 even though the game itself is outstanding.\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"1\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2169\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" class=\"expandable\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption itemprop=\"caption description\" class=\" inline-layout\"><span class=\"credit\" itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">(Image credit: Geoff Keighley (Twitter))<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"d0d41c5f-545d-493d-84d3-d33024adaea7\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:400px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:100.00%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"Vji3V6i3HDWUHeQ22PrjFL\" name=\"New Project (8).jpg\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game-1.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-games-2025-upcoming-pc-release-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"d0d41c5f-545d-493d-84d3-d33024adaea7\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>2025 games<\/strong><\/a>: This year&#8217;s upcoming releases<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/roguelike\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vampire Survivors-like Megabonk is one of the big indie hits of the year, selling a million copies in just two weeks and earning a nomination for best debut indie game in The Game Awards 2025. That sort of exposure is a big deal, especially for a small indie release, but developer vedinad said they&#8217;re withdrawing from the show for one simple and very understandable reason: Megabonk isn&#8217;t actually their first game. &#8220;It&#8217;s an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, but unfortunately I don&#8217;t think it qualifies for the category &#8216;Debut Indie Game&#8217;,&#8221; vedinad wrote on X (via Kotaku). &#8220;I&#8217;ve made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game. &#8220;I really appreciate the&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1397159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[748,1518],"class_list":["post-1397158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-games","tag-roguelike"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Megabonk developer withdraws from &#039;Best Debut Indie Game&#039; nomination at The Game Awards for a pretty good reason: &#039;It&#039;s not my debut game&#039; | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Vampire Survivors-like Megabonk is one of the big indie hits of the year, selling a million copies in just two weeks and earning a nomination for best\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Megabonk developer withdraws from &#039;Best Debut Indie Game&#039; nomination at The Game Awards for a pretty good reason: &#039;It&#039;s not my debut game&#039; | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Vampire Survivors-like Megabonk is one of the big indie hits of the year, selling a million copies in just two weeks and earning a nomination for best\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T22:21:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/megabonk-developer-withdraws-from-best-debut-indie-game-nomination-at-the-game-awards-for-a-pretty-good-reason-its-not-my-debut-game\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Megabonk developer withdraws from &#8216;Best Debut Indie Game&#8217; 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