The Game Awards 2025: Megabonk withdrawal has gamers all pointing out the same thing

Developer Vedinad has withdrawn indie title Megabonk's nomination at The Game Awards but gamers have all been pointing out the same thing about this on social media.

Megabonk is a third-person bullet hell action roguelike, which is a type of role-playing game that specifically has procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay and permadeath (permanent death).

It was nominated in the Best Debut Indie Game category at The Game Awards 2025 but on Megabonk's official X / Twitter page, it was confirmed the game would be withdrawn.

Posts on the social media site said: "I'm withdrawing from The Game Awards. It's an honour 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 ✌️"

Geoff Keighley, executive producer and host of The Game Awards, confirmed that Megabonk would be pulled from the category.

He posted on X / Twitter: "Megabonk, 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."

This was reposted in the Games Subreddit and gamers have had their say about this move in the comments, with a number saying it helps get publicity for the game.

One said: "I mean withdrawing will get way more media attention than actually getting the award because everyone is going to be writing about. Smart guy."

Another questioned: "What's everyone's thoughts on Expedition 33 being nominated for debut indie game?"

A third posted: "I think this is pretty commendable, especially if it's not a publicity stunt. Whether or not it was intended to be a publicity stunt, it's some damn good publicity. Help me, I can't stop playing Megabonk."

"Seems silly on his part to me," a fourth commented. "Like obviously the core dev team at Sandfall are very experienced and have worked on other games (several Ubisoft employees). With possibly the exception of Despelote which I can believe is the first released product from the dev, I'm sure all of these devs have worked on games / released games in some fashion. Why turn down free good publicity?"

Elsewhere from indy100:

• The Game Awards 2025: Expedition 33 devs have the most wholesome reaction to record nominations
• Every trailer and new announcement from The Game Awards 2024

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