The Indie Game Awards rescinded an Indie Vanguard honor from Gortyn Code’s Chantey just days after Thursday’s ceremony. The team was selected as an Indie Vanguard “due to their impressive work in GB Studio and for creating such an amazing throwback for the modern day.”
Chantey‘s physical cartridge is available exclusively through ModRetro, a retro gaming company owned by Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey—who also owns the American military contractor Anduril Industries.
Recently, ModRetro announced an Anduril-branded version of their Chromatic handheld console, which is essentially a Game Boy clone. Worst yet, the Anduril Industries Chromatic is made from the same metal as Andruil’s attack drones. Yikes. Any consumer who didn’t know ModRetro was in bed with American imperialism can’t avoid the fact now.
On its FAQ page, the IGAs state,
The IGAs nomination committee were unfortunately made aware of ModRetro’s vile nature the day after the 2025 premiere with the news of their horrid and disgusting handheld console. As the company strictly goes against the values of the IGAs, and due to the ties with ModRetro, the Indie Vanguard recognition has also been retracted.
The decision does not reflect Gortyn Code, but ModRetro alone. Chantey remains a wonderful throwback to the Game Boy era. We encourage you to continue following their journey on Itch.io.
The Indie Game Awards did not announce a new recipient for this Indie Vanguard honor. The rest of the 2025 Indie Vanguard class is as follows: Neon Knives, published by Cookiecrayon; Seasonala Cemetery, published by Gabby DaRienzo; HYPERBEAT, published by Dreamware Media; and Wildwood Down, published by Crashable Studios.
