Keighley and Cerny Start Fellowship For Game Designers

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Jesse Norris

6 hours ago

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A new report has detailed a fellowship started by gaming media mogul Geoff Keighley and PlayStation 4 & 5 design architect Mark Cerny.

Fellowship of the King (of gaming media)

Per Stephen Totillo’s Gamefile, Mark Cerny and Geoff Keighley are teaming up to offer a fellowship for aspiring game designers. The Nova Games Foundation will offer grants to aspiring game designers and is not tied to either Mr. Keighley or Mr. Cerny’s main jobs.

In the arrticle a few choice quotes detail exactly how and why this grant program came to be.

“I’m nearing the end of my career. I’m not done yet, but paying it forward—in the best way possible—is very much on my mind these days,”

Mark Cerny via Gamefile

The Nova Games Foundation offers funding and mentoring. There are ‘no strings attached,’ with a goal of $100,000 in funding per recipient. Mr. Totillo explains that the grants can go as high as $500,000 for “projects shaping up particularly well”.

For Mr. Keighley’s part:

“I’ve always wanted to give back, but given my role in the industry, I’ve never felt it appropriate to commercially invest in games.

I’ve never owned stock in a game company or taken a financial stake in a game. 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.

Mark and I have each made multi-million-dollar donations to establish the foundation, and we intend to keep contributing. We hope others will join us.

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