HQ Trivia shuts down after three years

Mobile trivia app HQ Trivia is shutting down, according to a report from CNN.

The live trivia app, developed by Vine creators Colin Kroll and Rus Yuzupov, was fairly popular when it launched in 2017, promising players real money for using the app, and answering questions at a specific time twice a day. Users would split $250 among themselves, with earnings then delivered to their PayPal. The app reached a record high in users at 2.38 million on March 28, 2018.

The game faced a problem with bots and, reportedly, popularity eventually fizzled out. HQ continued to update the app and look for interesting ways to keep trivia heads interested in playing, like HQ After Dark, an adult-oriented version of the game. The app was funded by partnerships with big companies like Warner Bros. and Nike, promoting movies for the former and giving away HQ-themed shoes for the latter. However, the company made layoffs in July 2019, after hitting financial troubles.

Even if HQ Trivia is gone, we’ll remember the weeks when friends would huddle together at 3 p.m. to try to play.