Megabonk may have withdrawn itself for consideration for best indie game at next week’s The Game Awards 2025, but it’s now long-listed as one of 30 fan-favorite games in the running for the Players’ Voice category.
Megabonk was nominated for Best Debut Indie, alongside Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Despelote, and Dispatch. Developer Vedinad, however, withdrew their game from The Game Awards in mid-November, saying it didn’t qualify for the category, as Megabonk was not their debut game.
“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,'” the developer said at the time. “I’ve made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game.”
Shortly after that, The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley shared a statement of his own acknowledging the request and stating that Megabonk would be removed in a Twitter/X post, which it eventually was.
That was seemingly not the end of the story for Megabonk’s journey at The Game Awards, however. It’s now also been nominated under the publicly-voted Players’ Voice category.
30 games are nominated for this section, the shortlist for which will be whittled down across three rounds of van-voting. Megabonk is up against big hitters like Death Stranding 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Arc Raiders, Battlefield 6, Hades 2, and Fortnite.
The Game Awards 2025 Players’ Voice nominations:
- Arc Raiders – Embark Studios
- Battlefield 6 – Battlefield Studios/EA
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Delta Force – Team Jade/TiMi Studio Group
- Dispatch – AdHoc Studio
- Donkey Kong Bananza – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Doom: The Dark Ages – id Software/Bethesda Softworks
- Elden Ring Nightreign – FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Final Fantasy XIV – Square Enix
- Fortnite – Epic Games
- Genshin Impact – HoYoverse
- Ghost of Yōtei – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Hades II – Supergiant Games
- Helldivers 2 – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Warhorse Studios/Deep Silver
- Mario Kart World – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Marvel Rivals – NetEase Games
- Megabonk – Vedinad
- Ninja Gaiden 4 – Platinum Games/Team Ninja/Xbox Game Studios
- No Man’s Sky – Hello Games
- Peak – Aggro Crab/Landfall
- R.E.P.O. – Semiwork Studios
- Silent Hill f – NeoBards Entertainment/Konami
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Sonic Team/Sega
- Split Fiction – Hazelight Studios/EA
- Warframe – Digital Extremes
- Wuthering Waves – Kuro Games
“WE’RE SO BACK,” Vedinad wrote (thanks, Polygon). “Megabonk is nominated for The Game Awards – Player’s Voice!! I withdrew my other nomination due to Megabonk not fitting the category, but with this new nomination we’re more back than ever. go vote pls.”
We had a good time with Megabonk. In IGN’s Megadonk quick review, we wrote: “As far as survivors-likes go, this is a pretty strong one. I’d say it’s worth a look if you have an appetite for another one of these that isn’t basically just a Vampire Survivors reskin. I just wish there was a little more level variety.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
