After closing its doors on February 14 this year and firing all its staff, HQ trivia is back. The surprise resurrection was announced by company CEO Rus Yusupov on Twitter, and a push notification was sent to users who still have the app installed on their phone.
Bringing @hqtrivia back tonight with @mattwasfunny!! 9p ET on the HQ app
— Rus (@rus) March 29, 2020
The response to the announcement has been mixed. While some users are keen for the distraction in a time when we desperately need it, others are still owed money from an app that closed without enough funds to pay its staff severance or cash out its users.
The demise of HQ Trivia was a messy one, with the hosts sending out one last angry, alcohol-fueled broadcast for the app's final show. Between the company co-founder Colin Kroll's sudden passing, the departure of a well-liked host, and conflicts with both staff and investors, HQ Trivia had more than its share of controversies even before the money ran out.
This week's resurrection seems to be the culmination of plans that Yusupov referred to vaguely in a series of tweets after the company shut down in February. The company has since been bought by an anonymous investor who provided enough funding for the show to resume, the Wall Street Journal reported.
1/ On Friday I announced that @hqtrivia was shutting down after a failed acquisition. Well it was a busy weekend, and HQ WILL LIVE ON. More below
— Rus (@rus) February 18, 2020
Host Matt Richards has promised that everyone who is waiting to cash out will be able to do so this week, and hopefully HQ Trivia will be able to deliver on those promises so we'll all be able to get stuck into some fun, guilt-free trivia in the coming weeks.
HQ Trivia is available on iOS and Android, with push notifications alerting users when live trivia shows are due to begin.