Game show app HQ Trivia gets resurrected

HQ Trivia co-founder Rus Yusupov announced the popular quiz app's return on Twitter soon after players received notifications of a new game starting.

According to a source who spoke with The Verge, this isn't a one-time event, and the once-popular game show app is to return. Though a schedule hasn't been confirmed yet, new HQ Trivia episodes are expected to start airing. The company behind the app has been sold to a private investor who chose to remain anonymous, the source also claims.

HQ Trivia first launched in 2017 on iOS and Android, developed by Vine creators Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll. The app played as a virtual game show, with players answering increasingly difficult questions within a time limit. It was initially hosted live by comedian Scott Rogowsky, until he was replaced by another comedian, Matt Richards, in April 2019, after negotiations with Rogowsky fell through.

HQ Trivia gained significant popularity, offering impressive prizes of up to $400,000 and partnering with popular brands such as Nike and Warner Bros. This wasn't without controversy, as some winners were reportedly not able to receive their earnings due to the cashout button being greyed out or showing errors on both iOS and Android. In June 2019, Alex Jacob, a winner of $20,000, took to Twitter seeking for help after not receiving his prize. Jacob eventually received the winnings in August and tweeted that the delay was due to the company making sure he wasn't cheating.

In 2018, HQ co-founder Colin Kroll passed away due to an apparent drug overdose. Later that same year, lead investors were no longer willing to fund it, as announced by Yusupov in a company staff email. That led to the layoffs of 25 employees at HQ, following further layoffs in 2019 and a shutdown in February 2020.

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