Escapist Magazine’s parent company, Enthusiast Gaming, has partnered with The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation to raise awareness for research and put cancer down once and for all. All week across our network, you’ll see the below Twitch stream embedded on our pages just above the comments section to promote the campaign. We’d like to encourage you to show your — let’s help make it a game over for cancer!
Watch live video from QuestToConquerCancer on www.twitch.tv
Gamers know all about conquering unbeatable levels and fighting unstoppable foes in the gaming world. Now they have a chance to take part in an even greater challenge — conquering cancer.
Quest to Conquer Cancer is a new fundraising initiative where streamers and gamers come together to raise funds for Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top 5 cancer research centers in the world.
This multi-day journey begins with a live stream on Twitch on World Cancer Day, February 4 with the campaign continuing through February 10. Gaming enthusiasts can donate directly through Tiltify or by donating on the livestream of their favorite participating streamers. Confirmed streamers include SOAR, Agent 00, TDI Hockey, AveryHam, Sadokist, Seaside, Clutch, Kspadetheprospect, DontBeSaad, Aarav, SunlessKhan, Vansilli and many others.
Hosted by Shaun Hatton (Megashaun), the week-long live stream will feature special guests including Marissa Roberto, Victor Lucas, Miguel Sternberg, Jason Canam, Orie Falconer, Drinkbox David and Drinkbox Augusto.
The Princess Margaret’s gaming superstar, Dr. Alejandro Berlin will also be going head to head with Hatton. Dr. Berlin has been playing video games since he has been a teenager. He sees a parallel between the competitive nature of gaming and his work fighting cancer as a Radiation Oncologist at The Princess Margaret.
“You can measure your performance over time, with yourself or with others, and that touches a competitive nature that I think we have in the medical field. We want to make things better.”
He hopes gamers will take part in Quest and raise funds for world-leading cancer research at The Princess Margaret. He also sees this as an opportunity for gamers to help in other ways.
“I think this is a very out of the box initiative,” says Dr. Berlin. “There are people who are in the gaming community, they may have experience with technology and skills that we could embrace and start thinking about the projects we could do together to start incorporating these skills and these visions into the medical field.”
Gabby DaRienzo, Co-Founder and Art Director of Laundry Bear Games in Toronto, also knows firsthand the power of the gaming community. When her mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, she connected with her through video games, and saw the support the online gaming community offered her mom through a difficult journey.
“When my mom was going through chemotherapy and cancer, she had all these people that she could talk to about this,” says DaRienzo.
She encourages gamers to get involved with Quest to help others going through a cancer journey.
“So many of us, who are younger and play these games, don’t think about how cancer can affect us, but it absolutely does. This is a really great way for us to do what we do best — play games, make games and raise money for something that affects all of us.”
Quest appreciates the support of its gaming partners — Toronto Defiant (grand prize), Nintendo, Bethesda, 8-Bit Beans, AK Racing Chairs, Enthusiast Gaming and Uken Studios — who have all played a role in the launch of this fundraising initiative.
