Evo and NYU Game Center create scholarship for fighting game community

Evo — a sponsor of the largest fighting game tournaments in the world and host of the annual Evo Championship Series — is partnering with the NYU Game Center to fund a scholarship that will be exclusively available to members of the fighting game community.

The scholarship is being developed for members of the fighting game community to study game design in the NYU Game Center's prestigious MFA program. It aims to support those who actively participate in the fighting game community and also show an interest in game design, with a focus on innovating in the field of competitive games. Applicants who best demonstrate the above criteria will be considered for the scholarship, and financial need will also be taken into account.

The size of the scholarship will be determined by the money generated by the Evo pay-per-view HD live stream which, in previous years, has raised between $20,000-$30,000.

"...Understanding [fighting games] is critical to understanding the future of games as a culture form."

According to the Chair of the NYU Tisch Game Center, Frank Lantz, the institution is committed to encouraging participation and development in the field of the gaming, and he believes competitive fighting games have something valuable to contribute to the world of game development and education.

"Fighting games combine the strategic depth of Chess with the technical mastery of a physical sport, and understanding them is critical to understanding the future of games as a culture form," Lantz said in a statement. "And given the ethnic and economic diversity of the fighting game community, we see the Evo Scholarship as also an opportunity to provide a path into the game industry for underrepresented voices who can bring much needed new perspectives to the world of game design."

This is not the first time Evo has offered a scholarship. Last year the organization handed out more than $20,000 in college grants to three students who were members of the fighting game community. The scholarships were financed through the pay-per-view HD live stream of the Evo 2012 fighting game tournament.

The Evo and NYU Game Center Scholarship will go into effect for the 2014-2015 academic year. Students will be able to apply for it when they apply for the MFA program. The application process is yet to be confirmed.