Remember the days of being able to play a simple trivia game on a smartphone, and win money? Well, those days are over, as the once-popular trivia app, HQ Trivia, announced it’s closing earlier this month.
The company made the announcement on the 14th of February, according to a Gizmodo article. Users were alerted with a notification at the usual time when the game starts, saying “HQ is live. Just kidding. We’re off-air indefinitely.”
Back in 2018, HQ Trivia was thriving. The company was valued around $100 million, and millions of users logged on daily to play the popular game, where they would answer 12 questions about a predetermined topic (depending if it was a special trivia night), or general trivia. However, reports of cheating bots made to help users find the answers and delayed payments tainted the gameshow’s image. These controversies lead to a decline in playership, ultimately leading to the app’s demise.
At one point, there was a potential saving grace for HQ Trivia. An offer from an established business was set to be finalized on the 15th of February, but it fell through at the last minute.
For the fans who were holding out hope they would still receive their winnings from the game, there’s a good chance that is not going to happen. Several former players have been experiencing issues when trying to access their bank accounts, and no Paypal payments have successfully gone through.