Every year, the organizers behind the Evolution Championship Series help a member of the community achieve their dreams with a scholarship to the Tisch School of the Arts’ Game Center at New York University. Funded by proceeds collected from online subscriptions to the tournament’s live stream, this scholarship has been awarded to numerous students over the past three years, allowing them to study game design in the accredited program.

With Evo 2015 rapidly approaching, NYU Game Center has announced this year’s recipient, and it’s someone many of you are likely familiar with. skisonic (pictured above) has dedicated tons of his time to the fighting game community. While he now spends tournaments commentating live matches, he’s a previous Evo finalist who broke into the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom top eight in 2010.

“I’m excited to come to New York and be inspired by a place that is constantly in motion,” ski said of receiving the scholarship. “I hope to bring the hardcore, passionate spirit of competitive fighting gamers to the program, and I’m anxious to learn from people who may not even know how to throw a Hadouken but whose unique experiences might offer me a fresh perspective.”

This is the latest development in NYU Game Center’s recent collaborative history with the fighting game community. The school has played host to Spring Fighter tournaments since 2010 as well as insightful Seth Killian interviews with players like Daigo Umehara and Alex Valle.

“We’re excited to provide someone from the fighting game community an opportunity to develop their skills and express their talent as a game designer,” NYU Game Center director Frank Lantz explained. “This scholarship is a truly unique initiative to explore, discover and innovate in the world of competitive game design.”

We here at Shoryuken would like to congratulate ski for this remarkable award, and we can’t wait to see what he produces during his time in the game design program.

Source: NYU Game Center, image courtesy of Robert Paul