Sony Interactive Entertainmenthas announced that it’s entering into a partnership with the University of Southern California and its video game program, USC Games. The multi-year partnership will see the gaming giant help the university support Black and Indigenous students studying to become part of the next generation of game developers and designers.
Recent years have seen companies and institutions across several industries pushing to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion more. Video games in particular have seen impressive strides on this front, and these days it’s not all that rare tosee historically-marginalized groups represented in games.But there’s always room for improvement, and a key way to get more diverse games is to get more diverse creators into the industry, which is what Sony and USC’s partnership aims to achieve.
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Starting things off, Sony announced that it’s making a $3 million contribution to USC’s Gerald A. Lawson fund through its PlayStation Career Pathways Program. Named after the engineer who helped pioneer the concept ofinterchangeable video game cartridges, the fund is designed to educate and train Black and Indigenous students to work in the game industry. It’s a goal similar to the one Sony seeks to meet with the PlayStation Careers Pathways Program.
In announcing the partnership, USC Games professor and program head Jim Huntley expressed excitement to haveSony Interactive Entertainmenton board with its push for more diversity. “Representation in gaming matters,” he said, adding that he hopes their partnership inspires other companies to join in. Likewise, Sony senior director Tiffany Johnson stressed that they have a “responsibility to drive change and build an industry that is more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming for all” and stated that the partnership is just one step Sony’s taking towards creating more space for underrepresented talent in video games.
Promoting diversity isn’t the only social cause that Sony and its subsidiaries have gotten involved with in recent times. After theUS Supreme Court ruling removing abortion rightsat a constitutional level earlier this summer, several of Sony’s studios, including Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, and Insomniac Games, voiced their disapproval and intent to help their employees get the reproductive healthcare they need.
Outside of partnerships like the one with USC Games, Sony has been busy bringing other companies into the fold through acquisitions, like this year’s acquisition ofDestinydeveloper Bungie. It’s also been investing in other studios as well, most recentlyacquiring a larger stake in FromSoftwarealongside Tencent, with the two companies now owning over 30% of theDark SoulsandElden Ringdeveloper between them.
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