Creating Impact Beyond Gaming: Sony Interactive Entertainment Community Engagement in FY24

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) aims to create impact beyond gaming through donations, volunteering, partnerships with nonprofit organizations, and humanitarian programs.  We continue to pursue new ways to leverage our creativity and technology to enable and inspire change. 

PlayStation Cares: A Year of Giving and Impact

Through PlayStation Cares, the company’s corporate giving and volunteer platform, in FY24, Sony Interactive Entertainment and its employees collectively donated $6 million to 1,981 causes in 32 countries, including employee contributions matched by the company. Strategic grants and employee-driven initiatives fuel some of these efforts, ranging from fundraising for mental health organizations to volunteering for reforestation and conservation projects.

SIE often hosts employee-driven, in-person volunteer days across the company. For example, more than 400 volunteers participated in walk-a-thons, raising funds for organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Movember​. Employees also participated in Race for Life 2024 – Cancer Research UK’s biggest series of fundraising events to raise funds for cancer research and support life-saving treatments.

Employees also participated in activities to support nature and wildlife conservation. In the United Kingdom, employees participated in projects at the Vinters Valley Nature Reserve, a volunteer-run space dedicated to preserving and enjoying nature. Teams worked on projects supporting the local animal population and waterways. 

Another example is service at  The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.  This former cemetery is now London’s most central urban woodland, boasting a 31-acre nature reserve partly rewilded from a former industrial site. Last year, Sony Interactive Entertainment employees helped with park maintenance, removing invasive plant species, and walking path reconstruction.

Also, in Japan, SIE’s Direct to Consumer (D2C) team took to the city streets to help beautify the vicinity around the Tokyo office. Partnering with a local initiative, Minato City’s “Adopt Program”, employees set out to clear litter from the neighborhood.

Fostering Professional Growth in the Video Game Industry

Sony Interactive Entertainment launched PlayStation Career Pathways (PSCP), to help broaden the pipeline of opportunities in the gaming industry. PSCP is a three-year career-readiness program offering students exposure to the gaming world through education, mentorship, professional development, and immersive industry experiences. Each scholar receives a $30,000 scholarship to assist with university expenses, along with personalized coaching and networking guidance from SIE employees, and insights into the creative processes behind game development. 

The program, launched as part of Sony Group Corporation’s $100 million Global Social Justice Fund, expanded to 56 additional scholars through partnerships with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, United Negro College Fund, and the University of Southern California​ in FY24

This year, Sony Interactive Entertainment also strengthened its Apprentice Pathway Program, which offers six-month apprenticeships to individuals from non-traditional backgrounds. With 60% of participants transitioning into full-time roles, this initiative continues to strengthen the gaming workforce​. By the end of FY25, a total of 210 apprentices will have benefited from the program.

Through our engagement efforts, Sony Interactive Entertainment will continue to leverage our creativity and technology to support the community around us.