Mark Cerny, PlayStation’s lead systems architect, says he’s “nearing the end” of his career and wants to “pay it forward” by investing into future generations of game developers. His method of doing that is teaming up with The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley and forming The Nova Games Foundation, which will award grants to aspiring developers worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, potentially for decades to come.
Cerny and Keighley tell Game File the plan is to give $100,000 to each of 20 young game designers every year, with eligibility for up to $500,000 more for the most promising projects. Meanwhile, Nova will do its part connecting developers with publishers and marketing their games, but it won’t profit financially from any of its investments. Meanwhile, recipients will be free to work with publishers of its choosing and determine which platforms their games are available on.
Applications begin in December for the 2026 to 2027 class of 13 college programs across eight countries, including New York University, the University of Southern California, Scotland’s Abertay University, France’s Cnam-Enjmin, Germany’s TH Köln, and Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
“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,” says Keighley. “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.”
One key developer already recruited by Nova is Josef Fares, lead designer at Hazelight Studios, the company behind hit co-op games It Takes Two and Split Fiction. “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 says.
Cerny and Keighley are looking for other high-profile games industry figures to join the cause, and Keighley says “dozens of leading game directors” have already shown interest.
Cerny hopes Nova can grow “over the next 10 or 20 years.”
“The industry has changed immeasurably since I started in games in 1982,” he says. “These graduates have talent, training and tools that outclass what we had back in the day by an astonishing amount. But they face a tough road ahead getting traction in the industry, and many could benefit from our support. We want to be there to give it to them.”
Here’s hoping one day this list of upcoming games includes some Nova recipients.