Megabonk withdraws from The Game Awards: “It’s an honour but I don’t think it qualifies for Debut Indie Game”

Vedinad, the creator of Megabonk, has pulled out of the Best Indie Debut Game category at next month's The Game Awards.

Hours after The Game Awards 2025 announces nominees – Clair Obscur: Sandfall Interactive's Expedition 33 won ten categories, including Game of the Year – Vedinad released a brief statement on social media confirming that while he was grateful for the nomination, Megabonk was not his first game and was therefore not eligible for consideration.

“I am withdrawing from The Game Awards,” developer wrote on X/Twitter. “It’s an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for the TGA, but unfortunately I don’t think it qualifies for the Debut Indie Game category.”

“I've made games under different studio names before, so Megabonk is not my debut game.”

In a follow-up post, Vedinad added: “I really appreciate the nomination, the support and the votes, but in this category it doesn’t quite feel right. You should vote for another amazing debut game, these are all amazing games!” It was signed “John Megabonk.”

Soon after, Geoff Keighley from The Game Awards confirmed the developer “contacted us to clarify that he was an established individual developer, which introduced him as a new creator under the name Vedinad.”

“We are grateful to him for his honesty. “As a result, Megabonk will be excluded from the category,” Keighley wrote.

“He'll tell more of his story when he's ready, but we respect that he didn't want to deprive the other opening teams of recognition even though the game itself was outstanding.”

Megabonk has sold over a million copies on Steam.