Saturday, June 24, 2023

Website Spotlight - TruPlay


  CEO and founder of the gaming platform TruPlay, Brent Dusingis a thought leader speaking on the topics of harmful and inappropriate content that is exposed to children online and as a solution is launching Christian video games that are safe, fun, high-quality and teach God’s truth.

 

Concerns about what children are exposed to online are nothing newbut new research by CyberSafeKids exposed alarming statistics that concern children online. 4,500 children aged between eight and 12 were asked about their internet safety habits and revealed that 31% of boys are playing over 18 online games and 87% of children reported having their own social media and/or instant messaging account, despite minimum age restrictions of 13 on all the most popular apps.

Other findings include:

·64% of children said that they’d been contacted by a stranger in an online game

·26% of children have seen or experienced something online in the last year that bothered them. 29% of those children kept it to themselves rather than reporting it to their parents or someone else

·26% report that they have friends and followers that they don’t know offline

·20% state that they have seen something online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about

 

According to Psychology Today, the average child is exposed to online pornography by the age of 11, causing devastating effects on their relationships and overall well-being. Many games today feature violence and other illicit activities that have been said to link with depression and mental health problems. Anxiety, suicide and depression rates are at all-time highs for children, precisely tracked with the use of social media on smartphones. 

 

This is why Brent Dusing created a gaming platform to bring high-quality, fun and biblically-sound entertainment to audiences worldwide. An entrepreneur at heart, Dusing pioneered game creation with Christian content through Lightside Games, a Christian gaming studio reaching more than 7 million game players worldwide and resulting in 25,000 decisions for Christ. Dusing has been featured on CNN, Fox News, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and other news media.  

 

TruPlay is launching its games in the upcoming months which feature biblical principles and storylines in the “RhymVerse,” where the heroes are animal children who are on their own journeys and encounter dark forces. The characters develop on their adventures and encounter their own personal journeys of growth.

  

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

Why was TruPlay created?

It’s news to no one that the internet is a dangerous playground for children. Less often discussed is the toll that the darkness evident in so many mobile games and other media takes on our children. Belief in God is at an all-time low in the younger generations today. We started TruPlay because we saw a need for a platform that brings light to kids through hope, joy, and beauty. And we knew we didn’t need to go further than the Bible to address that need. Our games are founded on biblical truth, whether by retelling familiar Bible stories in exciting ways or referencing Scripture throughout in a way that engages the audience.

How can gaming be a positive experience for kids?

At Truplay, we believe the Bible is eternally relevant to all the challenges people face, and we work hard to help children of all ages connect with Scripture in a way that touches their hearts. For example, we created the RhymVerse, a world in which the Bible is true, God is real, and each characters has a unique personality and encounters challenges similar to those faced by today’s kids. Our goal is to normalize a life of faith that even the youngest

child can aspire to. While the world of Rhym is fantastical and fun, it brings the universal issues of faith in God, courage, prayer, and scriptural truth to the level of our players, inviting them to experience God’s faithfulness to and care for them.  

How can parents and caregivers be more aware of what their kids encounter online?

We know that most parents are aware of the many pitfalls of the internet age and employ practical remedies to some extent. But technology is constantly changing, and it can be difficult for parents to keep up with the latest twists and turns. But that’s the beauty of the TruPlay platform. We’ve created a secure space with many imaginative, life-giving products: captivating games, digital comic books, and animated shorts. And all of that creativity is just the beginning, as we will be continually adding more content for the children and families who  become part of this new and exciting TruPlay movement. 


 

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

About TruPlay
TruPlay is reaching families around the world with high-quality entertainment products that encompass God's Truth. TruPlay is building games, digital comics, video content, and Web 3.0 content to bring light to a world in need of God’s love, hope and truth.  TruPlay’s platform launches in 2023. TruPlay is a team of dozens of industry veterans with deep expertise in games, storytelling, animation, entertainment, and technology—who are committed to seeing the betterment of children around the world. TruPlay launched the first major NFT release by a Christian technology company last month with 6,650 Genesis NFTs, which minted out within 10 minutes of their release on the morning of Sept. 15.  To date, TruPlay has raised over $20 million in investor capital, an accomplishment that validates its vision to create safe, edifying content for children. For more information, visit www.truplaygames.com

Brent was recently featured in an article by Christianity Today and Charisma News, which you can read here

An entrepreneur at heart, Dusing pioneered game creation with Christian content through Lightside Games, a Christian gaming studio reaching more than 7 million game players worldwide and resulting in 25,000 decisions for Christ. As the founder and CEO of Cellfire, Dusing created the nation’s leading mobile coupon company, used today at grocers like Safeway and Kroger, and leading Catalina Marketing to acquire Cellfire for $108 million. He began his career as a venture capitalist at Menlo Ventures, where he sourced multiple nine-figure exits and generated top-quartile returns. Over his career, Dusing has been featured on CNN, Fox News, ABC News, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly and other news media. Dusing has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University. 

To hear TruPlay’s mission please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGOmFntAXk.

For more information on why Brent Dusing created TruPlay and the company’s mission, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGOmFntAXk.

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