HQ Trivia: The Rise and Fall of the Live Mobile Game Phenomenon
HQ was a mobile trivia game developed by Intermedia Labs for iOS, Android, iPadOS, and tvOS. First released in 2017, the HQ app allowed users to participate in daily, live, trivia games in which they could win or split prize money. HQ was developed by Vine creators Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll and credited as a production of Intermedia Labs.
Game Concept and Development
The game's original concept, a gameshow hosted by astronauts, was created by Rus Yusupov, who had been experimenting with the idea at his tech incubator, Big Human, prior to co-founding Intermedia Labs. The app's original game was HQ Trivia, in which players have 10 seconds to answer multiple-choice questions that increase in difficulty. Additional games, such as HQ Words and HQ Tunes, were later added. All shows were broadcast live from New York City.
Release Timeline
In terms of availability, HQ was released on the following platforms:
- August 26, 2017: iOS
- December 31, 2017: Android
- August 14, 2018: tvOS
Hosting and Personalities
The primary host of HQ Trivia was initially Scott Rogowsky. In April 2019, Rogowsky was replaced by Matt Richards as the primary host of the game after negotiations between HQ and Rogowsky broke down over his new baseball show on DAZN. Richards, a stand-up comedian from Queens, New York, who has played comedy roles in several TV shows, had previously worked regularly for HQ Trivia as a fill-in host. Additional hosts included:
- Sharon Carpenter: Main host for the British games.
- Anna Roisman: Regular host for HQ Words.
- Melody Alanna: Host of HQ Tunes.
- Lauren Gambino: Host of HQ Sports.
- Alexandra Maurer: Regular host for the German games.
Player Statistics and Records
HQ has been made available worldwide—with the exception of Russia and India—on the iOS App Store and Google Play. The average number of participants has ranged from 100,000 to 125,000. Significantly, the app's record high of concurrent players was 2.38 million on March 28, 2018.
Financial Challenges and Shutdown
On February 14, 2020, Intermedia Labs Trivia sent a memo to staff stating the company would "cease operations and move to dissolution". It was announced that the app would immediately cease operations after its primary investors had stopped funding the company and a potential sale of HQ to an "established business" fell through. A final episode of HQ After Dark was aired that night, hosted by Matt Richards and Anna Roisman. The show ended with Richards showering Roisman and himself with a large bottle of champagne.
However, four days later, Yusupov said he had a tentative deal in place with another company to purchase the HQ franchise and keep it operational. On March 29, HQ Trivia resumed its daily games. During the first game back, host Matt Richards announced that HQ was donating $100,000 to World Central Kitchen, founded by José Andrés.
Final Operations and App Removal
The last HQ games were supposed to be hosted once a week, with a prize pot of $1,500, and typically saw about 15,000 players each. While HQ never officially announced a shutdown, it has not had a game since November 17, 2022. The app was officially removed from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store on August 5, 2023.
