If you've ever wanted to make your own game but had no idea how to fund it, the Nova Games Foundation is exactly the kind of thing that could change your trajectory. Mark Cerny, lead architect of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and Geoff Keighley, host of The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest, announced today that they've jointly launched the Nova Games Foundation, an independent nonprofit that will hand out $100,000 grants to 20 young game designers every single year.
This is not a publisher deal. Nova takes no equity, no ownership stake, and no cut of anything you make. It's straight-up philanthropy from two of the most recognizable names in the industry.
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What the foundation actually offers
Every Nova fellow receives a baseline grant of $100,000. That alone puts the program's minimum annual spend at $2 million across all 20 recipients. Here's the thing though: for roughly a quarter of those fellows, the funding can go significantly higher. Projects that hit development milestones can qualify for up to an additional $500,000, meaning a single fellow could receive as much as $600,000 in total support.
The money comes paired with mentorship from established game industry figures. Keighley said dozens of leading game directors have already expressed interest in contributing their time. Josef Fares, founder of Hazelight Studios and the director behind It Takes Two and Split Fiction, is already involved through both a donation and a commitment to mentor future fellows. Fares said the program gives the next generation of creators the freedom to explore their ideas and bring their own visions to life.
Cerny and Keighley have each made multi-million-dollar personal donations to establish the foundation. Keighley was direct about the intent: "Nova is philanthropy: we aren't taking equity or looking to recoup the grants."
The universities involved and when you can apply
Nova's first cohort will draw from class of 2026 and 2027 students at 13 affiliated game design programs across 8 countries. The confirmed universities include New York University and the University of Southern California in the US, Abertay University in Scotland, Cnam-Enjmin in France, TH Köln in Germany, and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia. The full list of participating institutions is still to come.
Applications open in December 2026. The first group of Nova fellows will be announced in March 2027.
Nova has brought on John Maconga as executive director and Ashley Corrigan, former director of the Game Developers Conference, as head of grants. That's a meaningful hire. Corrigan spent years running GDC, which means she understands exactly what emerging developers need and where the gaps in support typically are.
Why Cerny and Keighley built this
The foundation didn't come from a business meeting. Cerny and Keighley have been meeting for dinner several times a year in Los Angeles for roughly a decade, and their conversations kept circling back to the same question: what could they actually do for the next generation of game directors?
Cerny put it plainly: "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."
Keighley drew inspiration from established fellowship models like the Rhodes Scholarship and the MacArthur Foundation grants. He pointed to Jenova Chen, the USC graduate who went on to direct Flower and Journey at thatgamecompany, as the kind of creative path Nova hopes to encourage more of. The foundation's stated focus is games with "artistic, literary and societal value," and it's specifically looking for creators capable of leading a small team through a full development cycle, not just strong concepts on paper.
What most players miss when they see news like this is just how rare no-strings funding actually is in game development. Most external money comes with publisher control, equity stakes, or platform exclusivity attached. Nova offers none of that baggage.
Building something that outlasts its founders
Both Cerny and Keighley are explicit that Nova isn't meant to be a two-person operation forever. The goal is a broader endowment backed by individuals and companies across the games industry, with Cerny estimating that process could take 10 to 20 years to fully develop. The key here is that they're not waiting for that endowment to start making an impact. The first applications open in December, and the inaugural class gets named in March 2027.
If you're a game design student at one of the 13 affiliated programs, or you know someone who is, this is worth watching closely. For players, the longer-term payoff is more interesting: Nova is explicitly trying to produce the next generation of directors with the creative freedom to make games on their own terms, without a publisher shaping the vision from day one.
For more on games worth paying attention to from independent developers, check out our gaming guides covering everything from city-builders to strategy titles. And if you're already building in Nova Roma while you wait for the next big indie announcement, our Nova Roma city-building guide has everything you need to keep your settlement running.
