Mark Cerny, the celebrated lead architect behind the 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 new philanthropic fellowship is designed to nurture the next generation of video‑game designers by offering substantial financial backing and industry mentorship. According to a report from Game File, the Nova Games Foundation will distribute $100,000 grants to twenty promising designers annually.
Approximately one‑quarter of those awardees will qualify for an additional tranche of up to $500,000 for projects that demonstrate extraordinary potential. The program is deliberately independent of both The Game Awards and Sony’s PlayStation brand, underscoring its commitment to impartial support for creative talent. Beyond the monetary component, each fellow will receive guidance from seasoned veterans of the gaming sector. This mentorship is intended to help emerging creators refine their concepts, navigate development challenges, and connect with publishers or platform partners of their choosing.
Importantly, the fellows retain full ownership of any intellectual property they generate, while Nova offers to facilitate introductions to industry contacts when appropriate. The application window opens in December and will be available to graduates from the class of 2026 and 2027 who have completed one of thirteen partner university programs located across eight countries.
These partner institutions include TH Köln in Germany, RMIT University in Australia, Cnam‑Enjmin in France, Abertay University in Scotland, and the United States duo of New York University and the University of Southern California. By targeting students from a diverse set of academic environments, Nova hopes to capture a wide array of cultural perspectives and design philosophies. Cerny and Keighley are personally underwriting the foundation with multi‑million‑dollar contributions, and they have indicated that they will continue to inject additional capital as the initiative expands.
"Nova is philanthropy: we aren't taking equity or looking to recoup the grants," Keighley explained to Game File. "The return we're hoping for is creative – helping new voices make games and find their footing." This statement highlights the founders' belief that the true payoff lies in enriching the medium rather than generating financial profit.
To manage day‑to‑day operations, the foundation has appointed 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 funding allocation is expected to streamline the selection process and ensure that resources reach the most deserving candidates. The initiative has already attracted support from established creators. Josef Fares, the director known for It’s Two and Split Fiction, pledged both a monetary donation and ongoing assistance.
"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 said, emphasizing the foundation’s role in granting artistic autonomy. Cerny articulated a clear artistic vision for the fellowship, describing games as "an artistic medium" and citing titles such as Neva, Abzu, Gorogoa, Stray, and Outer Wilds as exemplars of the kind of innovative, emotionally resonant experiences Nova hopes to foster. These games are celebrated for their distinctive aesthetics, narrative depth, and experimental mechanics—qualities that align with the foundation’s goal of encouraging risk‑taking and originality. Keighley's inspiration for the fellowship model stems from several personal experiences.
He recalled his own unsuccessful bid for a Rhodes Scholarship, the prestige associated with the MacArthur Foundation’s "genius grants," and the career of Jenova Chen, the USC alumnus behind critically acclaimed titles Flower and Journey. By blending these influences, Keighley aims to create a program that not only provides financial relief but also bestows a badge of distinction that can open doors within the industry. The Nova Games Foundation represents a significant investment in the creative pipeline of video‑game development. By combining sizable grants, mentorship from veteran professionals, and a commitment to preserving creators' ownership rights, the program seeks to lower the barriers that often prevent talented designers from realizing their visions.
As the first cohort of fellows prepares to apply, the broader gaming community watches with anticipation, hopeful that Nova will usher in a wave of fresh, boundary‑pushing experiences that continue to elevate games as a respected form of artistic expression.