The Cygames Creator Scholarship Begins! Why It Was Established and the Hopes for the Program
Cygames recently started the Cygames Creator Scholarship, a stipend award, to support university students looking to become future game creators. In this article, we give an overview of the scholarship and reveal what its creator, Executive Director Yuito Kimura, had to say about why he created it and what he hopes it will achieve.
Scholarship Summary
The Cygames Creator Scholarship is a fund to help mainly university students aspiring to be the game creators of tomorrow. It consists of a monthly stipend of 100,000 yen to cover the costs of academic work and research and development. It also provides programs once every six months such as tours and internships with developers to give valuable experience.
The scholarship does not have to be repaid, regardless of whether the student becomes employed at Cygames.
Name: Cygames Creator Scholarship
Application Period: July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023
Eligibility: Must be a first-year or second-year student attending a Japanese university. (As of April 1, 2023)
Award Amount : 100,000 yen per month/1,200,000 yen per year (Given as stipends)
Award Period: 1 year (renewal based on reselection the following year)
Number of Recipients: Up to 30 (Awarded to 10 each for the designer, programmer, and artist fields)
■Application Process – Planned Assignments
Designer & Programmer
1st Round: Application form & short essay
(Optional) Created works, game proposal, etc.
2nd Round: Aptitude test
3rd Round: Online interview
Final Screening: Submission of application materials
Artist
1st Round: Application form & portfolio
2nd Round: Aptitude test
3rd Round: Online interview
Final Screening: Submission of application materials
The selection process begins July 2023.
For details regarding requirements, how to apply, and more, check the official scholarship website.
So, what was the thinking behind the Cygames Creator Scholarship? We asked the creator himself, Executive Director Yuito Kimura, to find out.
The why:
I wanted to help aspiring game creators.
- Cygames Executive DirectorYuito Kimura
- After finishing graduate school at the University of Tokyo, Kimura worked at Kanaden and Silicon Studio before establishing Cygames in 2011 alongside President Koichi Watanabe. He has worked as producer on a number of titles, including Rage of Bahamut, Granblue Fantasy, Shadowverse, and Princess Connect! Re: Dive.He was appointed executive director in April 2019. In addition to his administrative duties, he is also still deeply involved in game development as a producer of some of the company’s most well-known titles.
Can you tell us some specifics about the scholarship?
One of the biggest points is that recipients are university students aiming to get into the game industry or some other creative industry. Another is that the scholarship is given as a stipend and doesn’t need to be paid back.
The process differs depending on the field of the applicant, but individuals with game proposals, portfolios, or skills useful to game creation such as programming are more likely to be selected. In addition to the monthly scholarship stipend, we will be offering the chance to gain skills through tours of our company and internships here. We want a wide range of students to apply, whether they’re looking to become game creators or hoping to have another creative career.
What are the different application fields?
There are three fields were taking applications for: designer, programmer, and artist. We estimate people’s desired job positions will fall under one of these paths. In terms of actual positions, the designer field would be game designers. scenario writers, and the like. The programmer field would be for positions like server-side and client-side engineer. The artist field would be positions like illustrator, UI artist, and 3DCG artist.
What was your initial inspiration for the program?
There were a couple things that led me to starting it. I went to university while getting financial aid. It was something that helped a great deal. Another thing though, was I saw news that almost half of recent university students are taking out student loans and struggling to repay them. So I thought, what could Cygames do? And I came up with this plan. Obviously, I would like if the recipients took an interest in Cygames, but I want them to take an interest in the game industry as a whole. I want to help students with talent and inquisitive minds, and I want them to take an interest in the future of both Cygames and the wider game industry.
Wish for the next generation:
I want students to prioritize academic performance and become excellent additions to the workforce.
With regards to nurturing the next generation of creators, are there any new prospects or developments?
Cygames also has coding workshops for elementary school students, and we support middle school coding contests. But as I want more people in game companies, I’m also thinking it would be good to hold lectures geared toward students wanting to get into the game industry.
What would you like to tell students who wish to apply?
So long as you’re at university, you can apply no matter what you’re major is. Even foreign students can apply if they’re attending a Japanese university. I want the program to be for anyone, whether they want to work in the game industry, or in the entertainment industry in general. Use the scholarship to gain creative skills. That’s what is most important, but I would be very happy for everyone to focus on their studies at school and become excellent workers.
We hope you enjoyed learning about the Cygames Creator Scholarship and its founder, Executive Director Yuito Kimura. All you university students hoping to join the entertainment or game industries, we look forward to your applications!
Cygames Creator Scholarship Website
