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PayPalThe Game Awards is never without some kind of controversy, but this is a little different. Developer vedinad has withdrawn Megabonk from The Game Awards 2025.
Why? As listed in our original article, they were in the running for "Best Debut Indie Game". However, this is not their first game, just their first under the name of vedinad.
Writing on X / Twitter they said:
Geoff Keighley confirmed they've spoken to sort the situation:
While I applaud their honesty, and their attempt to address it like this, it does shine a light on the Debut category as a whole that feels like Megabonk could have been kept in. Since, other games in the category are from studios that have plenty of veterans. Like how Dispatch from AdHoc Studio was formed by former devs of the likes of Telltale Games and Ubisoft, same again with Sandfall Interactive who has veterans from Ubisoft and other studios.
What would TGA be without a little drama huh? Like how in 2023, Dave the Diver was nominated in the "Best Independent Game" category, despite it very much not being an indie game in any way. The developer, Mintrocket, is owned by the huge Nexon group.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The real award for the developers is when their game is enjoyed by people.
Just random selection of games into arbitrary categories and pick the winner doesn't really chime with me.
I never understood the awards thing tbh. Might be just me problem ofc.
I, too, think that it is a mistake. If that is the desired criterion for the Debut category, it is practically impossible to find (and confirm) suitable candidates. I assume that most of the other games would face the same issue – it is practically impossible to be able to sell the first game or any piece of software made without prior experience.
A bit different here since because since launch people have speculated that this is DaniDev (with a reversed name), a youtuber that has made several games on Steam. If that is true, then it would be a bit too problematic for the future.
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