A hilarious ending. "Not gonna lie. This f*cking sucks. This is the last HQ ever!” https://t.co/PWbx8HzqPF
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) February 15, 2020
Ummm @hqtrivia @rus @hqwords
— Angie Metzener ?????? (@blackrainbow37) February 14, 2020
@kerrymflynn this isn't real, right? Right?!?! https://t.co/gmyVduEC3G
In 902 days, HQ Trivia went from app launch to explosive smash success to complete collapse. At its peak in March 2018, it had 2.4 million concurrent players. It shut down today and laid off all staff. https://t.co/HJAYCsEg1Q
— Andy Baio (@waxpancake) February 14, 2020
HQ, maker of the once-popular HQ Trivia, is shutting down https://t.co/2fMZ25hRnw pic.twitter.com/1NDIetVSJC
— The Verge (@verge) February 14, 2020
Does anyone have an extra invite to HQ Trivia? https://t.co/15QDksc4Fo
— Kontra (@counternotions) February 15, 2020
HQ Trivia serves as a lesson that apps must evolve & founders can't rest upon finding momentary success https://t.co/mMD4mGL9kM
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) February 14, 2020
Whoa! There was a moment just two years ago where we all thought @hqtrivia was the future ... and yesterday was the end https://t.co/hADim86RFj
— Marty Ringlein (@smarty) February 15, 2020
This bums me out. HQ was super innovative and did a great job creating a completely new kind of online experience. https://t.co/Em5lUfnQs3
— Randall Bennett (@randallb) February 14, 2020
Fyre Festival got two documentaries. I think you could do ten about the rise and fall of HQ Trivia. https://t.co/uDNw1Uv5ej
— John Overholt (@john_overholt) February 15, 2020
HQ RIP https://t.co/e0ha5Rq1rV
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) February 15, 2020
Wow, HQ Trivia is shutting down. Probably the most chaotic/complicated startup I have ever coveredhttps://t.co/KFpVPCT02R
— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) February 14, 2020
How to implode a successful company, in 3 easy steps ...
— John Koetsier (@johnkoetsier) February 14, 2020
1) Kill the goose that laid the golden egg
2) Well, actually, you only need 1 step
3) See #2 https://t.co/TwrBm2pt3u
Feels like a classic case of a great product that just didn’t iterate fast enough. Was a lot of fun while it lasted https://t.co/3FupeMgTfv
— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) February 14, 2020
HQ Trivia peaked in Feb 2018 with 2M downloads. Last month? Just 68K. The startup never recovered from this botched coup https://t.co/yzJRRCwk0M
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) February 14, 2020
Woa! Remember how huge that HQ Trivia app was?! ? https://t.co/vLIk1dFM46
— Ed Boon (@noobde) February 14, 2020
And I thought that Turntable and Vine had an epic and quick rise and fall. https://t.co/2QGkpvsnaR
— David Nakayama (@dnak) February 14, 2020
HQ Trivia shutting down — few lessons:
— Jeff Morris Jr. (@jmj) February 14, 2020
1. Don’t take talent for granted - Scott will always be the ?
2. Appointment viewing hard in mobile. Asynchronous easier to grow
3. New content formats get tired. Must keep innovating. Hollywood knows this
Hope someone makes this work.
HQ CEO Rus Yusupov just sent a note to staffers (25 full-time employees): "This is one of the hardest things to do in my life, and I'm really sorry for any disruption this may cause you and our players." https://t.co/xmVWdVIFv7 pic.twitter.com/MOWfs434m1
— Kerry Flynn ? (@kerrymflynn) February 14, 2020
RIP to my childhood money making schemes. https://t.co/gEJE2WPmuu
— Liam ? (@liamseskis) February 15, 2020
Like "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," HQ messed stuff up by over saturation.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) February 14, 2020
Should have been a weekly thing, a big event, with big money. https://t.co/kIDzfszYr0
The late-2010's in a single tweet: https://t.co/VvTEtYBg42
— Ben Harrison (@6BenHarrison) February 15, 2020
HQ Trivia serves as a lesson that apps must evolve & founders can't rest upon finding momentary success https://t.co/mMD4mGL9kM
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) February 14, 2020
Sad outcome.
— Ihar Mahaniok (@mahaniok) February 14, 2020
It was a great product back in 2018. But didn't iterate to grow enough. https://t.co/ivotqq6WwH
Sad to see the death of this Universal Basic Income startup which literally just gave away millions in VC money to the masses https://t.co/lnfcF762jQ
— Lucas Matney (@lucasmtny) February 14, 2020
2 years ago this thing exploded on the scene. Crazy how quickly things can change. https://t.co/hL7ykNMeYb
— Peter Stringer (@peterstringer) February 14, 2020
That was arguably kind of a long 15 minutes. https://t.co/3VrQ43SkCJ
— Molly Wood (@mollywood) February 15, 2020
Maybe they should have realised there was a problem when a bunch of people in the company got together to say the ceo sucked and also the main face of the entire app was able to be poached by a baseball show https://t.co/rBrcjdExgg
— Ed Zitron (@edzitron) February 15, 2020
I quit playing HQ Trivia once I learned the company was funded by Peter Thiel, but I'm super surprised that apparently lots of other folks stopped playing too. https://t.co/R0joQizEIO
— Jessica is trying her best (@heyitsliore) February 14, 2020
Sleep well, sweet prince.
— David Ubben (@davidubben) February 14, 2020
Cheaters with algorithms stripped you of your fun, but what a run. https://t.co/UwyKhHipLX
Bummed to hear about the end of @hqtrivia -- Ahead of its time. I had so much fun guest hosting this back in the day. https://t.co/MEe0QkkbTy
— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 14, 2020
I spent most of my 2017 using MoviePass and playing HQ Trivia. Three years later both are gone. https://t.co/TPMplaTuH0
— Frank Pallotta (@frankpallotta) February 14, 2020
This is wild. At old Barstool HQ we were so early on it, playing when there were like 300 people per game. Then it blew way up, hundreds of thousands of people were playing every game. And now it’s dead. 902 days. https://t.co/xhy7cI104a
— Nate Blogg (@BarstoolNate) February 14, 2020
I truly enjoyed playing this game until I didn't. https://t.co/TGj8xI1agP
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 14, 2020
Great reminder that viral growth ain’t the cure all founders think that it is. https://t.co/O2t5q0Q3rN
— TJ Muehleman (@tjmule) February 14, 2020
This was wild. I was quietly extremely jealous of this product, very sad to see it end. https://t.co/LYXU71D8Sq
— Hank Green is Headed to VidCon London! (@hankgreen) February 15, 2020
I was just thinking the other day, “Remember when we were all obsessed with HQ?” Guess not. https://t.co/zmqMJ9yJsV
— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 15, 2020
It's sad to see HQ Trivia go they were innovators in the space of interactive TV.
— Will Jamieson (@WillJamieson93) February 15, 2020
We quickly followed them with the launch of The Q and saw the demand for interactive experiences.
Shortly after launch, we notice a couple of things.
Sadly the employees have to split their severance package with so many other fired people they’ll only take home 63 cents. https://t.co/jJH28wBCqv
— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) February 14, 2020
Remember, kids. This is innovation. https://t.co/rlv0isztYA
— Keep It Surly (@surlyurbanist) February 15, 2020
With HQ we showed the world the future of TV. We didn’t get to where we hoped but we did stretch the world’s imagination for what’s possible on our smartphones. Thanks to everyone who helped build this and thanks for playing.
— Rus (@rus) February 14, 2020
This is a very weak letter. And letting folks know that their last day is the same day they get the letter is exceptionally weak leadership. https://t.co/j921je4uOr
— Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff) February 15, 2020
HQ Trivia, the Once-Popular Mobile Game, Is Shutting Down https://t.co/MOoe0btRQU
— Slashdot (@slashdot) February 15, 2020
Wow. And HQ goes down! This game was so strong for a while https://t.co/9KRFtce5Sx
— Bobby Bones (@mrBobbyBones) February 14, 2020
한때 큰 인기를 끌었던 모바일앱 라이브 퀴즈쇼 HQ Trivia (HQ트라비아)가 문을 닫았다고. https://t.co/IiPnQ2Aft8 한국에서도 이런 모바일퀴즈쇼가 잠깐 인기가 있었는데 결국 일시적 유행으로 끝난 듯…
— 에스티마 (@estima7) February 14, 2020
제한시간 내에 퀴즈를 맞혀 상금을 주는 모바일 게임을 유행시킨 HQ Trivia, 남은 직원을 해고하고 회사 해산. 몇 년 전 유행할 때 한국에도 ‘벤치마킹’한 회사가 있던 걸로 기억하는데 지금은 어떻게 되었나 모르겠네요. https://t.co/hyU1aCh5VV
— 나가토 유키 (@nagato708) February 15, 2020
모바일 실시간 퀴즈 앱의 원조 HQ Trivia 폐업하는군요. 국내에도 클론앱 꽤 많이 나온걸로 알고 있는데 현황 궁금하군요
— lunamoth (@lunamoth) February 15, 2020
HQ Trivia, the once-popular mobile game, is shutting down - CNN https://t.co/71hpvuyQo0
https://t.co/hkLfDBuxjz
— Matt Richards (@mattwasfunny) February 16, 2020
In my defense. This shit was hilarious! @hqtrivia can’t wait to do it again! Thank you tech crunch! Also if you don’t realize that after dark was always about jokes and being silly. You suck.
HQ, maker of the once-popular HQ Trivia, is shutting down https://t.co/D7fYQUrxvk via @verge
— Metalmama itsmeMetalmama @Metalmama1987 (@MetalMama1987) February 15, 2020
HQ Trivia shuts down after acquisition falls through via Josh Constine https://t.co/0c29JNdeoG #ML #AI #Analytics #Automation pic.twitter.com/r044tOiNOl
— Dr. Gerald Bader,PhD (@gerald_bader) February 15, 2020
Had a major difference of opinion with a VC last year, who insisted that the key to “new” sports betting market in America would be in moving from our current model which “lacks engagement” to “the HQ model”. Sure... https://t.co/Co4G4Akhny
— Joe Brennan Jr (@joebrennanjr) February 16, 2020
Most startups fail. But it can be sad when one you cared about kicks the bucket. @hqtrivia was something cool to share with friends and family and once with about 2.3 million people online. A fun glimpse of the future. https://t.co/Qp219HoIaj
— Rashan A. Colbert (@Rashan) February 15, 2020