The developer behind Steam hit roguelike survival sport Megabonk was nominated Monday for Greatest Debut Indie Sport at The Sport Awards. On Tuesday, the developer recognized solely as vedinad stated that he was withdrawing Megabonk from competition, saying that “sadly i do not suppose it qualifies for the class.”
On the Megabonk X account, vedinad (aka “John Megabonk”) posted about withdrawing the sport from this yr’s award, additional explaining his reasoning.
“It is an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, however sadly i do not suppose it qualifies for the class ‘Debut Indie Sport,'” the developer stated in a put up noticed by Kotaku. “I’ve made video games prior to now beneath completely different studio names, so Megabonk isn’t my debut sport. i actually admire the nomination, help and votes, but it surely would not really feel proper on this class. you must vote for one more one of many wonderful debut titles, they’re all wonderful video games!”
Based on The Sport Awards host Geoff Keighley, the Greatest Debut Indie Sport “acknowledges a improvement workforce that hasn’t gained a Sport Award earlier than.” Groups eligible “revealed their first video games this yr,” Keighley stated throughout Monday’s nominations announcement livestream. The Sport Awards web site describes the class as recognizing the “greatest debut sport created by a brand new impartial studio.”
The developer generally known as vedinad solely has one sport beneath that Steam developer account: Megabonk. vedinad has not publicly revealed what different video games he was concerned in. vedinad’s identification has been the supply of intense hypothesis, with one oft-posted concept being that he’s Dani (aka danidev), the favored YouTuber and sport developer behind Crab Sport (a Squid Sport-like) and Muck (a roguelike survival sport).
Shortly after vedinad withdrew Megabonk‘s nomination, Keighley responded on X to say the dev’s request was granted. “We’re grateful for his honesty. Consequently, MegaBonk will likely be faraway from the class,” Keighley wrote.
The Sport Awards 2025 will happen on Dec. 11, minus one Megabonk.
Replace: This story has been up to date to mirror that The Sport Awards will honor vedinad’s request to take away Megabonk from consideration.
