HQ Trivia is mysteriously back, during the best time possible for HQ Trivia
Viral app, shutdown app, resurrected app... The timeline of HQ Trivia's virtual life. After launching in 2017, HQ surged to App Store fame with cash giveaways, Black Mirror-like live setup, and host Scott Rogowsky. At its peak, it had 2.8M players on one game. Then people forgot about it. Back in Feb, we got word that the app was shutting down. Now, it's been resurrected — here's how it made a comeback:
- The Message: On Sunday, those who still had the HQ app on their phones were notified via push notification that a new game would go live that night (like a surprise text from a forgotten fling inviting you to dinner).
- The Return: HQ was acquired by a mysterious, anonymous private investor, according to The Verge. The app is officially back in business, and will start airing shows regularly (though the schedule still hasn't been confirmed).
Timing is everything... Because of social distancing, lockdowns, and "stay-at-home" orders, this is probably the best time for HQ to make a comeback. There's only so much scrolling you can do on Insta and Netflix while stuck at home — HQ provides an alternative fun distraction. Plus:
- Live sports are cancelled, so people are looking for adrenaline-inducing live things to watch.
- And that means no gambling on live sports either.
- Our social interactions are limited, and HQ offers something vaguely social — there's a live comment section and you can play with your co-quarantiners.
HQ Take #2 should probably try subscriptions... HQ version 1.0 monetized its users through ads, but now the fact that no one's shopping means companies are cutting back on marketing spend — the corona-conomy is creating an ad-pocalypse. If HQ could swing offering a $1/month subscription (while maintaining millions of users), it might be better positioned to grow and not shut down (again).