Mark Cerny and Geoff Keighley Launch New Games Fellowship

PlayStation architect Mark Cerny and host Geoff Keighley have teamed up on the Nova Games Foundation, a university-affiliated program offering six-figure grants to 20 young game designers every year.

Ever dreamed of breaking into game design but worried about the money side of things? Two of the biggest names in gaming might just have your back.

Mark Cerny, the man behind the PlayStation hardware you probably own, and Geoff Keighley, the host of The Game Awards, have teamed up to launch something brand new. It's called the Nova Games Foundation, and it's a university-affiliated fellowship program built to give young designers a serious head start.

So what does that actually mean for aspiring creators? According to the source, the program aims to hand out six-figure grants to 20 young game designers every single year. That's not pocket change - that's life-changing support for people trying to get their foot in the door of a notoriously tough industry.

The fact that it's university-affiliated is a big deal too. Instead of tossing hopeful designers into the deep end, the fellowship looks set to combine real financial backing with an academic structure. For students and recent grads, that could mean the difference between shelving a passion project and actually shipping something.

It also makes sense that these two are the ones behind it. Cerny is legendary for his technical work on PlayStation consoles, and Keighley has spent years spotlighting new talent through The Game Awards and his other projects. Pairing that kind of industry clout with a program aimed at newcomers feels like a natural next step.

Details beyond the headline numbers are still thin in the source, so we don't yet know things like application windows, eligibility rules, or exactly which universities are involved. But the core pitch alone is enough to turn heads: 20 designers, six figures each, every year.

For anyone grinding away on a portfolio right now, this is one to keep on your radar. Programs like this don't come around often, and when they're backed by names like Cerny and Keighley, they tend to attract attention fast.

What do you think - is a fellowship like this the kind of support the games industry needs more of? And if you're a budding designer, will you be keeping an eye out for the Nova Games Foundation?