Palworld lead and Pocketpair founder says Megabonk dev is "one of the game developers I respect the most" as the solo indie creator withdraws his roguelike hit from The Game Awards

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.

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Mizobe took to Twitter to say, "He is one of the game developers I respect the most," while expressing how much he loved what's likely the developer's previous game, Muck. While John Megabonk hasn't revealed their true identity yet, "Vedniad" is "Danidev" – the developer of Muck – backwards, which has led fans to believe that YouTube creator and indie developer Dani is, in fact, behind the game.

Either Mizobe buys this too or knows something we don't (and given how much the team loves Megabonk, maybe there's a collab incoming).