Exclusive: Two of gaming’s biggest names are making a big investment in gaming’s future

Key Points:

• The Nova Games Foundation, created by Geoff Keighley and Mark Cerny, is a philanthropic fellowship program offering six-figure grants to 20 young game designers annually to support artistic and innovative video game development.
• The foundation provides no-strings-attached funding, mentorship from industry leaders, and allows recipients to retain ownership and pursue publishers or platforms freely, with grants starting at $100,000 and potential additional funding up to $500,000 for promising projects.
• Nova will accept applications starting December from students graduating in 2026 and 2027 from 13 affiliated university gaming programs across eight countries, including NYU, USC, Abertay University, and RMIT.
• Keighley and Cerny aim for Nova to become a lasting industry-supported endowment that fosters creativity and leadership in the next generation of game developers, emphasizing artistic, literary, and societal value in games.
• The first cohort of Nova Fellows will be announced in March 2027, with further details on participating universities and application processes to be released soon.