TrulySocial

TrulySocial operates as a mobile game development studio, founded in 2015 by industry veterans Cooper DuBois and Patrick Tougas. The founders brought extensive experience to the venture; DuBois was a co-founder of DoubleDown Interactive, and Tougas had a background as a Lead Designer at Ubisoft and Design Director at Capcom Game Studio Vancouver. Their stated goal was to move away from the violent and gambling-style games they had previously created and to produce games that could be enjoyed by a wider audience, with a focus on making them "truly social" by involving players in the creation process.

The company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, and expanded its operations by establishing studios in Vancouver, Canada, and Minsk, Belarus. A significant milestone was the 2018 acquisition of Cooper's New Reality Garage, a Vancouver-based studio specializing in Augmented Reality (AR), which was then rebranded as Truly Social Games Vancouver. This acquisition was intended to integrate AR technology into their games, enhancing their social and interactive elements.

Truly Social Games' primary product was "Planet Gold Rush," a mobile game that gained global recognition with positive ratings on major app stores. The company's business model focused on developing casual social games for mobile platforms, available for both Android and iOS users, and monetized through in-app advertising. In March 2021, Leaf Mobile Inc. announced its acquisition of Truly Social Games for $3 million. This was followed by a lawsuit filed by Truly Social Games against Leaf Mobile (by then operating as East Side Games Group) in December 2022.

Keywords: mobile game developer, casual games, social games, Planet Gold Rush, Cooper DuBois, Patrick Tougas, augmented reality games, game development studio, in-app advertising, Leaf Mobile acquisition, East Side Games Group, Portland startup, Vancouver game studio, Belarus game studio, DoubleDown Interactive, Ubisoft alumni, Capcom alumni, mobile gaming, interactive entertainment.