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Dave the Diver Director Rejects Indie Status and Cites Jury Criteria

The nomination was the result of The Game Awards jury’s broad definition of independent rather than any submission by Mintrocket.

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Overview

  • Jaeho Hwang said Dave the Diver was never intended to be an indie game because it was developed within Nexon’s internal Mintrocket studio.
  • He confirmed that neither he nor Mintrocket applied for the Best Indie Game nomination at The Game Awards.
  • Geoff Keighley has explained that indie nominees are selected by a 120-member global media jury using a wide-ranging interpretation of independence.
  • Despite its indie nod, Dave the Diver lost the 2023 Best Indie Game award to Sea of Stars from Quebec’s Sabotage Studio.
  • The debate has largely settled on how The Game Awards defines independent titles rather than the game’s corporate backing.