REPLACED takes three CEEGA 2026 awards
Sad Cat Studios’ cyberpunk platformer wins Best Game, Game Design and Narrative at the Central and Eastern European Game Awards.
REPLACED has taken the top prize at the CEEGA 2026 awards, where Sad Cat Studios’ cyberpunk action platformer also won the Game Design and Narrative categories. That gives the game three awards from the Central and Eastern European Game Awards, making it the ceremony’s biggest winner. 12
What happened
CEEGA’s Best Game award placed REPLACED ahead of finalists including Cronos: The New Dawn, Dying Light: The Beast and Mafia: The Old Country. The same shortlist also shows the breadth of the competition: the awards cover games from across Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine, rather than focusing only on the biggest international releases. 1
Sad Cat Studios’ game is set in a dystopian version of 1980s America. Its central premise puts an artificial intelligence inside a human body, with the player moving through a cinematic 2.5D action platformer built around pixel art, close-quarters combat and a corporate-controlled world. The official game site describes it as a gritty cyberpunk adventure, while the Steam listing identifies Thunderful Publishing as the publisher under licence. 23
Why the awards matter
The triple win is notable because the categories recognise different parts of the same design. Best Game rewards the overall package; Game Design points to how the mechanics and progression are assembled; and Narrative acknowledges the story and world-building. Winning all three suggests that REPLACED connected with the jury as more than a visual showcase.
CEEGA was created to highlight the region’s game-making communities and includes both established studios and smaller independent teams. Its wider 2026 list also included awards for visual art, audio, technology, mobile games and a special Code the Rights programme focused on games engaging with human-rights and social themes. 1
The result gives REPLACED another useful marker after its April 2026 launch on PC and Xbox. It does not turn an awards result into a review score, but it does underline why Sad Cat Studios’ debut has attracted attention: the game’s visual identity is easy to spot, and the CEEGA jury has now backed its design and writing as well as its presentation.
Our opinion
Three wins are a stronger signal than a single trophy because they point to a game working on several levels at once. REPLACED still has to earn its reputation with players, but recognition for Best Game, design and narrative makes it one of the clearest independent success stories from this year’s CEEGA ceremony. It is exactly the sort of regional talent awards like this should bring into sharper focus.