The Game Awards faces backlash for Dave the Diver indie nomination

The Game Awards nominations have been revealed, and fans are taking issue with Dave the Diver’s nomination for Independent Game of the Year.

With 2023 drawing to a close, it’s now time for the most exciting and divisive part of the year – the battle for Game of the Year.

This year’s nominees have been named, and to little surprise, it’ll be an epic battle. Despite a few stinkers, 2023 was full of an incredible slate of titles such as Alan Wake II, Spider-Man 2, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

However, not everyone is happy with the nominations, notably with the surprise nomination of Dave the Diver for Best Independent Game.

Dave the Diver’s nomination sparks heated debate

The Game Awards host and video game industry veteran Geoff Keighley announced this year’s nominees in a special live stream. Dave the Diver, along with four other titles, will battle for Independent Game of the Year at the year-end event.

Typically, an indie game is a title made without funding from a big publisher and created by a smaller team. Given this lack of support, the team is free to create something they want to make, although they may face financial struggles during development.

Mintrocket is the team behind Dave the Diver, and while a smaller group of developers, it is a subsidiary of Nexon – a billion-dollar corporation.

Many argued the game’s inclusion highlights a well-known issue with the category, as the definition of what makes an indie game is no longer clear.

Fans pointed out the title’s inclusion felt extremely out of place because of the dynamic that brought it to life.

Of course, none of the discourse is meant to take away from the title, as many replies argued the title is very well done. Yet its inclusion points to a bigger issue of uncertainty in the ever-changing gaming space.

We’ll see how the battle unfolds when The Game Awards goes live on December 7.