Sony Donates $3 Million to the USC Games Gerald A. Lawson Fund

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced a multi-year partnership with USC Games and has pledged $3 million to its Gerald A. Lawson Endowment Fund, with backing from the PlayStation Career Pathways Program.

The endowment was established in 2021 in partnership with Take-Two and is aimed to support Black and Indigenous students who pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in game design or computer science from USC. According to USC Games professor and head of marketing Jim Huntley, the program's vision is to inspire and enable more diversity and inclusivity within the gaming industry.

Sony's contribution will help fund over 60 student scholarships, with USC Games noting that this new partnership will solidify SIE as a major partner of USC Games' efforts to increase the representation of Black and Indigenous people in the games industry.

"We are beyond excited to be one of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s partners and share their same vision to inspire and enable more diversity within the gaming industry," Huntley said. "Representation in gaming matters. We hope the USC Games Lawson Fund Supported by PlayStation Career Pathways Program inspires other corporations, publishers, and developers to reach out to us and invest in tackling a chronic problem that the industry has struggled with since its inception."

"The USC Games’ Lawson Fund is more than a scholarship. It’s our commitment to creating opportunities for Black and other unrepresented talent that want to enter the gaming industry," said senior director and global head of DE&I at SIE Tiffany Johnson. "We have a responsibility to drive change and build an industry that is more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming for all. This contribution is just one of many efforts and it all starts with investing in the next generation of talent and creating more exposure and visibility for underrepresented communities."

You can learn more about the Gerald A. Lawson Fund and USC Games' partnership with SIE here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.