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Citizen Science Effort Launched for Gaming Community to Donate Computer Processing Power to Find Treatments for COVID-19 Virus

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BALANCED Media|Technology (BALANCED) and Complexity Gaming (Complexity), one of North America’s most elite and longest standing esports organizations, have partnered to announce #WeAreHEWMEN, a new citizen science/crowdsourcing effort to encourage the video game community to donate spare computer processing power to find treatments to fight the COVID-19 virus.  BALANCED, a crowdsourced healthcare artificial intelligence company bringing purpose to play, has launched the HEWMEN® Cell application, a free secure download that creates a virtual network to process drug discovery data for COVID-19.  Leading esports team and sponsor, Complexity, is urging the gaming community to support the effort by downloading the HEWMEN cell application.

BALANCED’s HEWMEN technology creates a distributed network that processes data-driven problems such as drug discovery and medical research.  The HEWMEN Cell application, which uses small amounts of volunteer computers’ unused processing capacity, has integrated BOINC, an open-source software platform used for volunteer resources developed by the University of California, Berkeley. It allows for the virtualizing of servers and applications inside a voluntary grid network and has been widely used with no security issues on millions of PCs. The HEWMEN Cell app was used by BALANCED and computational biologist John Wise, Ph.D., of Southern Methodist University’s Drug Discovery Lab, for finding co-medications to enhance the effect of chemotherapy in the treatment of recurrent, resistant breast and prostate cancers.

BALANCED, with John Wise, will harness the power of gamers to have the HEWMEN Cell app process information from more than 200,000 FDA-approved existing medications/compounds against models of the protein and enzymatic functions of COVID-19 to see which candidates prove most effective at reducing the virus’ pathology. Using these compounds, between 1.5-3 million virtual experiments will be run, simulating attempts to dock compounds to specific locations on the virus. By identifying the compounds with the highest probability of success, the effort will dramatically reduce development cycle time and get new treatments to market faster.

“If there’s one universal truth about gamers, it’s that they’re always looking for their next challenge,” said Robert M. Atkins, BALANCED CEO. “COVID-19 is the biggest threat to humanity and there’s no community in the world more engaged online than gamers. This makes them the perfect group to empower to help put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. When they hear the call to help, they will answer. It’s the moment they’ve been training for since they booted up their first video game.”

The HEWMEN Cell app can also combine human intelligence with the system’s machine learning by injecting scientific datasets into videogames.  As players interact with the games, they add human intuition and insight into the process as they act upon scientific datasets to solve complex problems or help a computer vision algorithm learn to “read” a certain type of image.

In an industry first, BALANCED recently put a medical research project on Twitch Interactive in partnership with Complexity for World of Warcraft‘s “Race to World First.” The livestream event invited viewers to become participants by playing BALANCED’s The Omega Cluster within Twitch streams while watching Complexity-Limit, the top World of Warcraft guild in the United States, become the first North American guild to win the “Race to World First.” During the 10-day tournament, participants logged over 900 hours – or 23 40-hour work weeks – playing The Omega Cluster, virtually processing medical compounds for cancer medicines through their gameplay.

“As with ‘Race to World First,’ we’re proud to partner with BALANCED to showcase the power of gaming and esports within our greater global community,” said Jason Lake, Founder and CEO, Complexity Gaming. “We’re grateful to continue working with BALANCED not only to create an engaging new experience but also to be a part of something meaningful as we strive to find a solution to this global pandemic.”

Other BALANCED efforts include the use of its technologies in an award-winning project by Chief Technical Officer Corey Clark, Ph.D., for the Barbara Bush Foundation’s Adult Literacy XPRIZE (2019) and the creation of an Eye in the Sky: Defender game for the Retina Foundation of the Southwest to improve the automation of interpreting Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) scans used in the diagnosis and treatment of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

 

About BALANCED Media Technology
BALANCED Media|Technology is a crowdsourced healthcare artificial intelligence company bringing purpose to play.  BALANCED is focused on changing the way researchers, pharmaceutical and medical device companies leverage machine learning (ML) to advance the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. By crowdsourcing artificial intelligence through online communities and gaming via its HEWMEN platform, BALANCED hopes to aid researchers in investigating new treatments by creating AI-enabled technologies that reduce research time and cost and increase research effectiveness. BALANCED, a 2019 Tech Titan winner that has been recognized as an industry innovator by multiple groups including the Dallas Business Journal and Dallas Innovates, is also creating the 8 CELL video game that aids in medical/health education and research. The McKinney, Texas based company is headed by founders in data science, computing, video game development and the medical/healthcare industries.

About Complexity Gaming
Complexity Gaming is one of North America’s longest standing and most successful esports organizations, now owned by Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and investor John Goff. The esports organization is led by Founder and CEO Jason Lake, considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of esports in North America. Complexity Gaming has won more than 140 championships in nearly 30 game titles over it’s more than 15-year history. Staunchly committed to passion, professionalism, and a player-first mentality, Complexity Gaming has been continuously recognized as a global leader in modern esports.

SOURCE BALANCED Media | Technology

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AGLC Announces New Board Chair

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Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) has announced the appointment of Larry Spagnolo as the new Board Chair, effective August 15, 2025. This announcement follows the official Order in Council issued by the Alberta Government and marks a new chapter in AGLC’s ongoing commitment to support communities, encourage responsible choices and position Alberta as the best place to do business.

Larry brings a wealth of experience in technology and business leadership to the AGLC Board and will play an integral role in guiding AGLC’s strategic direction. He is currently serving as VP and GM of Emerson’s SaaS SCADA business and has held senior roles at Zedi and Telus, driving innovation, growth, and global success.

A strong advocate for education and community, Larry serves as Vice Chair of Athabasca University’s Board of Governors and has held board roles with NAIT and Polytechnics Canada. He was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for his community contributions.

AGLC and the Board of Directors extend their heartfelt thanks to Len Rhodes for his leadership and dedication as Board Chair since August 2019. He decided not to seek a third term and will continue to serve in this role until August 14, 2025. Len led AGLC through some significant milestones, including reducing red tape by 51%, growth of the emerging cannabis industry and ensuring AGLC delivered a balanced approach to business development, social responsibility, and regulatory oversight.

The post AGLC Announces New Board Chair appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Pinnacle Ontario live with CasinoEngine in North America debut

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EveryMatrix has expanded its partnership with tier-1 operator Pinnacle powering its new casino in Ontario, Canada, using CasinoEngine platform technology – the first time its platform solution has gone live in North America. 

The latest agreement builds on the two companies’ previous collaboration that saw EveryMatrix’s CasinoEngine productivity platform power the well-known brand’s global casino offering.

The new launch takes the relationship to North America, marking EveryMatrix’s debut CasinoEngine platform integration in that market.

BonusEngine, EveryMatrix’s cross-vertical bonusing tool will be integrated in the second phase of launch. This will equip Pinnacle Ontario with a host of bonus types as well as AI-powered bonus abuse solution Bonus Guardian.

BonusEngine is the first of multiple engagement tools from EveryMatrix’s EngageSuite that Pinnacle plans to integrate.

With this comprehensive toolkit at its disposal, and the opportunity to add even more casino products in the future, Pinnacle Ontario can tailor campaigns, segment audiences, and reward players more effectively, creating a world-class digital entertainment experience for its customers.

EveryMatrix has more than 300 global customers and holds North American licences in Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan, West Virginia, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Stian Enger Petersen, CEO, Casino, EveryMatrix, said: “This launch marks a key milestone for EveryMatrix as we bring our market-leading CasinoEngine platform to Canada for the first time.

“We’re delighted to expand our partnership with Pinnacle and support their ambitions in Ontario with a powerful combination of platform, content, and engagement tools that are proven to drive success.”

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Prime Skill Games Inc. Official Response to AGCO Press Release

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As CEO of Prime Skill Games Inc., I feel compelled to address recent comments made by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario regarding so-called unapproved gambling machines in convenience stores across the province.

Let me be perfectly clear

Our machines are not gambling devices. They are entirely skill-based, fully compliant with the law, and built on the fundamental idea that players are in control. The outcome of every session is determined solely by the player’s ability, not by random chance.

Prime Skill Games is proud to be the only true skill game operating in Ontario today.

We categorically reject any suggestion that our products fall under the definition of unregulated gambling. Such statements are inaccurate, misleading, and fail to recognize the critical distinction between games of skill and games of chance.

We stand firmly behind the legality of our machines and the integrity of our operations. We will demonstrate this through every available means, whether through legal documentation, expert analysis, or, if necessary, before the courts. We are prepared and unafraid to defend the truth.

To our players, partners, and business community, we want to reassure you that our mission has not changed. We are committed to offering a responsible, transparent, and innovative entertainment experience. We will not be intimidated by broad and baseless accusations, and we will continue to move forward with strength and clarity.

 

Sincerely

Matt Zamroźniak

Chief Executive Officer

Prime Skill Games Inc.

The post Prime Skill Games Inc. Official Response to AGCO Press Release appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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