In Conversation with Mark Cerny

A Life in Games: From Atari to NOVA

In this lecture, Mark will share a few stories from his long history in games, and then discuss the Nova Games Foundation — an innovative program offering no-strings-attached grants that allow university graduates to go directly from games studies to leading their own projects. The presentation will conclude with a Q&A with Mark for students interested in learning more about Nova.

Over the course of his 45 years in video games, Mark Cerny has worked on an extraordinarily diverse range of projects, with roles spanning designer, producer, programmer and director on over 40 games, as well as serving as Lead Architect of the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles.

Perhaps Mark’s greatest legacy is “The Cerny Method,” his influential approach to game development built on a fundamental shift from planning to playing. The IGDA highlighted this contribution when honoring him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.