Giving Back To The Industry: Nova Games Foundation Officially Launches To Empower NextGeneration Game Creators

Nova Games Foundation, an independent nonprofit philanthropic organization cofounded by Mark Cerny, lead system architect of PlayStation 5, and Geoff Keighley, creator and host of The Game Awards, is officially announced to the public. Operating entirely separately from PlayStation and The Game Awards, this charitable initiative bridges the gap between university gamedesign graduates and sustainable original commercial game development. It seeks out visionary emerging creators and safeguards the artistic diversity of video games as a creative medium. Both cofounders have made multimilliondollar personal donations to seed the foundation, inviting wider support from across the global games industry for young creative talent.

Foundation’s Origins & Core Rationale

While the global games industry keeps expanding, young creators continue to face substantial structural barriers. Upon graduation, many gamedesign students produce strong academic prototypes yet lack access to capital, industry mentorship and visibility to turn artisticallyliterary, sociallyminded original concepts into complete shipped games. Commercial investment frequently prioritizes highreturn product concepts, leaving experimental, culturallyrooted creative projects underserved. Many promising new voices go unheard, risking longterm loss of creative diversity for the whole sector.

Nova Games Foundation was conceived by these two veteran industry figures as a response to this systemic challenge. Mark Cerny shared that he is approaching the later stage of his career and hopes to “pay it forward” to help pave the way for rising creators coming after him. Geoff Keighley stressed that Nova operates purely as philanthropy rather than a commercial investment vehicle: “I have never held equity stakes in any game company. Nova is not built for financial returns. The return we pursue is creative: empowering new voices to build their projects and establish themselves within our industry.”

The foundation’s core belief holds that video games are far more than entertainment commodities. Games can deliver profound narratives, illuminate diverse cultures, foster crosscultural empathy, challenge established assumptions and reshape how audiences perceive the world. Through nostringsattached grants, industry mentorship and promotional exposure, Nova aims to enable graduating students to step directly into creative leadership roles on original game projects without being forced to compromise their artistic vision for financing reasons.

Full Introduction to Nova Games Foundation

Nova Games Foundation runs a universityaffiliated fellowship programme. Partnering with thirteen highereducation gamedesign programmes across eight countries worldwide, it selects promising candidates among graduating students of the class of 2026 and 2027. Every year, up to 20 visionary young game designers will be awarded the title of Nova Fellow.

1. Grant Framework: Zero Equity, Zero Repayment — Creators Retain Full Ownership

• Base Grant: Each selected Nova Fellow receives an unrestricted USD 100,000 grant. Disbursements are tied to preagreed development milestones. No repayment is required. The foundation claims no equity, no copyright ownership and no revenue share. Creators retain onehundredpercent intellectualproperty rights over their complete game projects.
• Additional TopUp Funding: Approximately one quarter of fellows whose projects demonstrate exceptional creative potential may qualify for supplementary funding up to USD 500,000. Combined total funding for a single project can reach USD 600,000, also distributed against verified development milestones.
• WrapAround Support Package: Beyond funding, fellows gain access to mentorship from established industry professionals. Nova provides promotional visibility for finished works and can facilitate introductions to publishers and platform holders. Creators remain completely free to select their own publishing and distribution partners; no mandatory partnerships are imposed by the foundation.

2. Global Partner Universities

Nova has established partnerships with thirteen university gamedesign programmes across eight nations. Confirmed partners include New York University (NYU), University of Southern California (USC) in the United States; Abertay University in Scotland; CnamEnjmin in France; TH Köln in Germany; RMIT University in Australia, with additional institutions planned to join the network in future cycles.

3. Leadership & Governance

The foundation has appointed John Maconga as Executive Director. Ashley Corrigan, former Director of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), joins as Head of Grants. Drawing on their extensive operational and gamesindustry expertise, they oversee fellow recruitment, grant review, and mentorshipprogram construction for the foundation.

4. Application Timeline

• Full programme guidelines: MidSeptember 2026
• Official application window: December 2026
• Contact email: info@novagamesfoundation.org
• Official website: org

LongTerm Vision for Nova Games Foundation

Nova Games Foundation intends to build a sustainable longterm talent ecosystem, rather than delivering oneoff grant payouts. Beyond continuing personal contributions from the two founders, the foundation welcomes additional donations from gamesindustry companies and senior practitioners to scale its support capacity.

Nova seeks not merely technicallyskilled designers, but prospective project leaders and visiondriven creators who can helm original productions independently. Its mission is to cultivate the nextgeneration backbone for the games industry, preserve the artistic diversity of video games as a medium, and bring culturallydistinctive, sociallyreflective original creations to global player audiences.

Media Contact: info@novagamesfoundation.org