Palworld lead Takuro Mizobe has expressed his adoration for the creator of Megabonk after its creator decided to remove the game from the "Debut Indie Game" category at The Game Awards 2025. Megabonk is a banger, plain and simple. In a year with games like Death Stranding 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Ghost of Yotei, Megabonk stands among them as one of the most exciting games of the year. Major fans include Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director, Expedition 33 developers (who are rooting for it to win Game of the Year), and Palworld developer Pocketpair's publishing director and communications lead, John "Bucky" Buckley, who hasn't stopped talking about the game since it launched. Turns out Bucky isn't the only fan at Pocketpair, as Palworld lead Takuro Mizobe has commented on Megabonk developer Vedinad (also known as John Megabonk) removing the game from contention at The Game Awards for its frankly criminal single nomination for "Best Debut Indie Game." This is due to the developer creating games under a previous name – although, given how many developers who have previously made games under other companies get put up for the award, it doesn't feel like an especially egregious nomination. Roguelike superstar drops out of The Game Awards because Megabonk "is not my debut game," but fans beg solo dev to reconsider: "Wait until you hear about 'indie' games in the indie category that are backed by multi-billion-dollar corps" After 47 hours, Palworld lead finally hits 100% in Megabonk on Steam and has "tried a world record run," catching the eye of the roguelike's solo dev himself: "Well bonked" Sandfall says Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 winning GOTY "isn't something we aim for," and even though it would be a "nice little bonus," it's rooting for Megabonk The Game Awards 2025 has Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as the most-nominated game in the show's history, while Arc Raiders is up for just one category