Original Xbox dev team members create student fund for USC Interactive Media & Games Division

Video game industry veterans Kevin Bachus and Chanel Summers, both members of the original Xbox team at Microsoft, have established a student fund to promote "innovation in interactive entertainment" at USC's School of Cinematic Arts Interactive Media & Games Division.

The establishment of the Bachus-Summers Fund for Innovation in Interactive Entertainment was announced by USC's School of Cinematic Arts today as a means to support students "showing initiative in the emerging fields of interactive and immersive media."

Bachus was one of four original members of the Xbox team and currently serves as senior vice president of entertainment and games strategy for Dave & Buster's. Summers is a former Microsoft audio technical evangelist and helped design and promote the audio capabilities of the original Xbox.

"There has never been a greater opportunity than there is today for talented and passionate individuals to come together and create the legendary game studios of tomorrow," Bachus said in a release. "The Bachus-Summers Fund for Innovation in Interactive Entertainment is meant to do two things: to recognize and reward the most innovative work by a student in the Interactive Media & Games Division and to encourage that student to build their own future, for themselves and for others, after leaving school."

"I've seen first-hand that the most meaningful work is always achieved when visionaries take risks and break boundaries," said Summers. "Creative and talented individuals must be allowed to realize their dreams, regardless of resources."

USC's School of Cinematic Arts announced earlier this year that its Interactive Media Division was being renamed to emphasize the program's "commitment to studying games and playable media."