Why 'HQ Trivia' Game Show App Is Shutting Down

The company behind the popular mobile trivia game "HQ Trivia" is shutting down after losing its funding, reports say.

HQ, the company behind "HQ Trivia," a live mobile trivia game that once became popular shortly after launching in 2017 on iOS and later on Android, is now shutting down after its investors stopped investing money in the company, CNN reported.

The mobile game company once enjoyed popularity among millions of "HQ Trivia" users. Per the Google Play Store listing, it was featured by many publications and shows including The Today Show, Time, ABC, CNBC and more. The game's original host Scott Rogowsky, even became a household named and appeared in a variety of shows as well.

In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, one of the company's co-founders, Rus Yusupov, even said the company has “ambitions to essentially build the future of TV.” Things have dramatically changed for the company since that interview, however.

The game slowly lost its popularity the following year. A quick look at Google Trends (as per Android Police) reveals that the public slowly lost interest in the game starting in the middle of 2018.

Aside from losing revenue due to the drop in the game's popularity, HQ also other problems at the same time. This included losing its co-founder Colin Kroll to a drug overdose in December in 2018 – the same year the public slowly lost interest in the title.

Now in 2020, HQ has decided that it will be shutting down. In a company-wide email sent last Friday, Yusupov announced that the company will be closed for financial reasons.

Yusupov, in the email (obtained by CNN), said the company is losing its funding after investors expressed their unwillingness to supply funds. Because of this, “effective today, HQ will cease operations and move to dissolution.”

The co-founder also explained that the company didn't just sit down to wait for more funding. He said in the email that HQ had hired a banker “to help find additional investors and partners.” Yusupov said an “established business” made an offer but that deal didn't work out. He was expecting the company to close the deal, but didn't succeed in doing so.

HQ is parting with 25 employees at the time of shutdown.