HQ Trivia has made a surprise comeback, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. A little over a month after it was shut down, the live quiz show app alerted its users via a push notification about a new game session on Sunday night. The company has been resurrected by an anonymous private investor, its host claimed.
The New York-based startup abruptly went out of business in February after its founding CEO Colin Kroll passed away and it continued to run into financial troubles. Co-founder Rus Yusupov tweeted a few days later that the show could soon return in a “new home” without sharing any concrete details.
“In its new home, we should expect HQ to go through some changes, especially to cover expenses, and be less buggy,” he commented on Twitter at the time. Last week, the company’s official Twitter account sent out a mysterious tweet writing nothing more than an ellipsis, possibly hinting at this relaunch.
In a tweet, host Matt Richards confirmed the live trivia show was indeed returning. Richards added that players whose rewards were stuck when the company went under will also be able to soon cash out. A spokesperson told The Verge that this wasn’t a one-off event, and episodes will begin to air more regularly in the future. However, the newly funded company is still figuring out the final schedule and the timings.
For its Sunday return, the prize pool was set at $1,000 and Richards offered extra, free lives as well as 500 coins to everyone. As a result, more than 10,000 people won; each earning 9 or 10 cents apiece. The session also included several public service announcements that address the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
HQ Trivia returns at a time when millions across the world are stuck in their homes as the novel coronavirus pushes countries in indefinite lockdowns. With a lot of people now seeking new forms of entertainment to keep them company, the 3-year-old live game show could capitalize on the situation to regain its popularity, which in its prime was drawing millions of players every day.
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