Level Ex

Level Ex is a Chicago-based company that applies video game technology and development techniques to medical training and education. Its games are designed for practicing clinicians and cover specialties including cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology and anesthesiology, with additional specialties in development. Content is produced by combined teams of game developers, artists and physicians, with an emphasis on interactive quality and user experience comparable to consumer entertainment titles rather than conventional medical education material.

The company's work spans two areas that were later separated organizationally: clinical games aimed at medical professionals and the pharmaceutical industry, and games for surgeons and the medical device industry. Beyond commercial clinical titles, Level Ex partnered with The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) on a virtual human simulation platform intended to help NASA train astronauts to handle medical situations in space.

Founding story

The company originated in 2012, when founder Sam Glassenberg's father, an anesthesiologist, asked him to use his video game development experience to build a game for practicing fiberoptic intubations. Glassenberg built the game over three weekends and published it to the app store for his father's colleagues; roughly 100,000 doctors, nurses and airway specialists ultimately played it. The scale of that unsolicited demand from physicians led him to found Level Ex in 2015. Glassenberg had previously been CEO of an independent Hollywood game publisher acquired by Playtech in 2016, led the DirectX team at Microsoft, and worked at LucasArts; he holds an M.S. in computer science (graphics) from Stanford and a B.S. in computer engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Business model

Level Ex develops medical video games and simulation content used for physician training and engagement, monetized through work for pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers and medical societies rather than through the clinicians who play the titles. The post-2024 Relevate Health Games unit positions the games within broader omnichannel brand marketing and engagement programs for life sciences clients.

Traction

By 2020 the company reported more than 600,000 medical professionals playing its games, a figure later cited as over 1 million medical professionals. Clients included six of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, global medical device companies and medical societies.

Latest developments

In 2024 Level Ex's Life Sciences division was acquired by Relevate Health and rebranded Relevate Health Games, offering clinical games for medical professionals and the pharmaceutical industry alongside omnichannel marketing services. The Surgical and Medical Device division continues within Brainlab's SNKE Group, serving surgeons and medical device companies.