Abstract:
PlayStation console chief architect Mark Cerny said that his career is "coming to an end" and he wants to give back to society before leaving. Therefore, he teamed up with Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley to announce the establishment of a new game design graduate scholarship program called Nova Games Foundation, with the goal of awarding six-figure bonuses to 20 graduates each year.
Cerny and Keighley revealed the non-profit project in an interview with Game File. The program is designed to last decades, not years, and in addition to providing $100,000 in “no strings attached” funding, it also promises to provide mentorship to scholarship recipients. Recipients of these awards can also receive additional funding of up to $500,000 if "the project progresses particularly well." Assessments for these grants will be based on whether projects meet established development milestones.
Cerny said: "My career is nearing the end and I haven't fully retired yet, but recently I have been thinking about how to best give back to society."
Keighley added: "I've always wanted to give back to society, but given my role in the games industry, I've never felt it was appropriate to make a commercial investment in games. I've never held a stake in any games company, and I've never invested money in any games. Nova is a charity project: we don't intend to take equity, and we don't expect to recoup donations. The return we hope to receive is creative - helping emerging developers make games and find their niche."
Josef Fares, founder and game director of Hazelight, the developer of "Two for Two", has stated that he will participate in the project through donations and mentorship. Meanwhile, New York University and the University of Southern California are two of 13 universities around the world participating in the project. The first beneficiaries will be students from the classes of 2026 and 2027 at the two universities, who can apply starting in December this year.
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