> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.zolak.lt/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# REPLACED game wins Best Game at CEEGA 2026: a Belarusian success
- URL: https://blog.zolak.lt/replaced-game-wins-best-game-at-ceega-2026-a-belarusian-success/
- Published: 2026-10-30T08:19:35.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-06T11:22:39.000Z
- Description: REPLACED, from a studio founded in Minsk, won Best Game, Design and Narrative at the Central & Eastern European Game Awards.
- Author: ZOLAK
- Tags: Belarus, #auto

REPLACED, the cyberpunk action game from Sad Cat Studios, was named Best Game at the Central & Eastern European Game Awards (CEEGA) on 23 October 2026 in Poznań. Sad Cat Studios was founded in Minsk in 2018\. The REPLACED game also won the Design and Narrative awards, more than any other title this year.

For a small team with Belarusian roots, that is a big result. In the Best Game category, REPLACED beat titles from much larger studios, among them Cronos: The New Dawn, Dying Light: The Beast and Mafia: The Old Country.

## What CEEGA is

The Central & Eastern European Game Awards started in 2018 and are organised by Poland's Creative Industries Institute. A jury of game-industry people and journalists from across the region picks the winners. This year there were eight main categories and two special awards backed by Amnesty International. The ceremony took place during Poznań Game Arena, one of the biggest games fairs in the region.

REPLACED was nominated in six categories and won three: Best Game, Design and Narrative. Poland's Minister of Culture, Marta Cienkowska, handed over the Best Game award. The Narrative award was presented by Steve Meretzky, who co-wrote the 1984 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text adventure with Douglas Adams.

## About the REPLACED game

REPLACED is a 2.5D cinematic action-platformer with a cyberpunk setting. It came out on 14 April 2026 for PC and Xbox Series X/S, after a short delay from March. Thunderful published it. According to dev.by, the game had 750,000 wishlists before release, and Belarusian is among its languages.

The studio started in Minsk and now works from Limassol, Cyprus. Part of the team, including co-founder and game director Yuri Zhdanovich, lives in Poland. In 2023 Sad Cat raised 5 million dollars from GEM Capital, dev.by reported.

## Why it matters

Many Belarusian studios and developers have had to move abroad since 2020, and building something from scratch in a new country is hard. A regional jury putting a team with Minsk roots at the top of the whole Central and Eastern European field shows that Belarusian creative work is not going anywhere. It also adds Belarusian to the language list of a game that many people across Europe will now try because of the award.

If you live in Vilnius and make games, music or films, you are in good company. ZOLAK hosts screenings, jam sessions and presentations of Belarusian work, and some of the best evenings we have had started with someone saying "we finished something, can we show it?". Our guide to [hosting a private screening in Vilnius](https://blog.zolak.lt/how-to-host-a-private-movie-screening-in-vilnius/) covers the practical side.

## Sources

- [dev.by: Belarusian studio's game named best in Central and Eastern Europe](https://devby.io/news/igra-belarusov-stala-luchshei-v-tsentralnoi-i-vostochnoi-evrope?ref=blog.zolak.lt)
- [Inven Global: REPLACED named Best Game at CEEGA 2026](https://www.invenglobal.com/articles/27643/replaced-named-best-game-at-ceega-2026-claiming-three-awards-including-design-and-narrative?ref=blog.zolak.lt)
- [Gematsu: REPLACED release date](https://www.gematsu.com/2026/02/replaced-delayed-to-april-14?ref=blog.zolak.lt)