The live game-show app HQ Trivia, which exploded onto the scene in August 2017, made its return Sunday night, the company’s co-founder and CEO Rus Yusupov confirmed on Twitter. A push notification was also sent to players.⠀⠀
“Bringing @hqtrivia back tonight with @mattwasfunny!! 9p ET on the HQ app,” Yusupov tweeted.
The Wall Street Journal also confirmed its return, reporting that an anonymous investor acquired the company for an undisclosed amount and restarted operations with Yusupov back as CEO, according to Hollywood Reporter. In February, media company Whistles was in negotiations to buy HQ Trivia for $20 million, but the deal fell through. The quiz company was closed on February 14th, laying off all 25 staff members.
HQ Trivia gained popularity for its cash prize games and intricate hosts, which included lead host Scott Rogowsky. The company quickly grew and, at its peak, raked in more than 2 million concurrent players. The resurrected HQ Trivia’s first program will replace Rogowsky with Matt Richards as host.
HQ Trivia’s success was quickly overshadowed by a number of controversies that included issues with prize payment and other technical issues with the app. There was also trouble within upper leadership with co-founder Colin Kroll ousting Yusupov, who also became the subject of allegations of inappropriate conduct while he was working at Twitter previously. In a sad twist, Kroll passed away as the result of a drug overdose in December 2018 at the age of 35.
