Mark Cerny, the veteran architect behind Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Geoff Keighley, the well‑known host of The Game Awards, Summer Game Fest and Opening Night Live, have joined forces to create the Nova Games Foundation. This initiative is a philanthropic fellowship designed specifically to nurture the next generation of video‑game creators.
Though the foundation shares its founders’ high‑profile names, it operates independently of both The Game Awards brand and Sony’s PlayStation division. According to a report from Game File, Nova will allocate $100,000 grants to twenty promising designers each calendar year. Roughly one‑quarter of those recipients will qualify for a larger tranche of up to $500,000, reserved for projects that demonstrate exceptional promise or ambition.
The money is not a loan and does not come with any equity claim; instead, the foundation’s goal is to give creators the financial freedom to develop their visions without the pressure of immediate commercial return. Beyond the cash, fellows will receive mentorship from seasoned industry veterans. This mentorship component is intended to bridge the gap between academic training and the realities of commercial game development.
Participants will keep full ownership of any intellectual property they generate, and they are free to seek publishing deals or platform agreements with any partner they choose. Nova’s staff will assist by making introductions to publishers, platform holders, and other potential collaborators, but they will not dictate the direction of the project. The application window opens in December and will remain open through 2026 and 2027 for graduates of thirteen partner university programs located across eight countries. These institutions include TH Köln in Germany, RMIT University in Australia, Cnam‑Enjmin in France, Abertay University in Scotland, as well as the dual‑campus partnership of New York University and the University of Southern California in the United States.
By targeting graduates from a diverse set of schools, Nova hopes to capture a broad spectrum of cultural perspectives and design philosophies. Both Cerny and Keighley are personally contributing multi‑million‑dollar sums to seed the foundation, and they have indicated that they intend to continue investing as the program expands.
Keighley emphasized the charitable nature of the effort in an interview with Game File, stating, "Nova is philanthropy: we aren't taking equity or looking to recoup the grants. The return we're hoping for is creative – helping new voices make games and find their footing." In other words, the founders measure success by the artistic impact of the funded works rather than by financial metrics. The foundation’s leadership team includes John Maconga as executive director and former Game Developers Conference director Ashley Corrigan as head of grants. Their combined experience in event production, community building, and grant administration is expected to streamline the selection process and ensure that funds are allocated fairly and transparently.
In addition, Josef Fares—renowned director of It’s Two and Split Fiction—has pledged both a monetary donation and ongoing support for the program. "I’m proud to support Nova because it gives the next generation of creators the freedom to explore their creativity and hopefully bring their unique visions to life," Fares remarked. Cerny has framed the foundation’s mission in terms of supporting games as an "artistic medium." He cited a handful of recent indie titles—Neva, Abzu, Gorogoa, Stray, and Outer Wilds—as exemplars of the kind of innovative, emotionally resonant experiences Nova hopes to enable.
These games have been praised for their distinctive aesthetics, experimental mechanics, and narrative depth, qualities that often emerge from small, independent teams operating outside the constraints of large‑scale commercial publishing. Keighley explained that the fellowship concept was partly inspired by his own experience applying unsuccessfully for a Rhodes Scholarship, as well as by the prestige of the MacArthur Foundation’s "genius grants" and the career of Jenova Chen, the USC graduate who created the critically acclaimed titles Flower and Journey. By drawing on these models, Keighley aims to create a similar platform that celebrates creative brilliance in the interactive medium. In practice, the Nova Games Foundation will function as a catalyst for ambitious projects that might otherwise struggle to secure funding.
For example, a graduate team developing a narrative‑driven adventure that explores themes of mental health could receive a $100,000 grant to cover prototyping, art production, and initial playtesting. If early prototypes show strong potential, the team could qualify for an additional $500,000 to expand the scope, hire additional talent, or invest in marketing and distribution. Throughout this process, mentors from established studios would provide feedback on design decisions, technical implementation, and business strategy, while the fellows retain full creative control. The broader industry impact could be significant.
By lowering financial barriers, Nova may help diversify the voices that shape the medium, encouraging more inclusive storytelling and innovative gameplay mechanics. Moreover, the mentorship network could foster lasting relationships between emerging talent and veteran developers, potentially leading to future collaborations, employment opportunities, or even the formation of new independent studios. Overall, the Nova Games Foundation represents a bold experiment in game development philanthropy. It blends substantial monetary support with mentorship, respects creators’ ownership rights, and seeks to nurture artistic risk‑taking.
If successful, it could become a model for other sectors of the entertainment industry, demonstrating how targeted, non‑equity funding can stimulate cultural growth while preserving the integrity of creators’ visions.