In 2018, mobile game show app HQ Trivia skyrocketed in popularity, with over 1 million players participating in its games and bringing on celebrity guest hosts like Danny DeVito and Dwayne "The Rock" JohnsonHQ Trivia then experienced a deep decline in popularity and never managed to win its once-massive audience, resulting in the app being shut down permanently.

HQ Trivia's death happened on February 14, Valentine's Day, when it was revealed in an email from CEO Rus Yusupov that the game show's "lead investors" were pulling out. The email, which was obtained by CNN Business, also revealed that HQ Trivia hired a banker to find more financial support, and that there was an offer from an "established business" with the deal expected to close on February 15. For unknown reasons, the deal fell through, leading to the end of HQ Trivia.

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For those who have been following the app closely, the writing was on the wall for the once-popular mobile game show. Its troubles started in 2018, when co-founder Colin Kroll was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 34, amidst the show's steep decline in popularity and relevance.

In 2019, HQ Trivia's bad luck continued. It lost its original and popular host Scott Rogowsky, who it reportedly did not want to share with baseball show ChangeUp. Then there were reports in the summer of 2019 that HQ Trivia employees attempted a mutiny against CEO Rus Yusupov, though they were unsuccessful.

Adding to HQ Trivia's problems were various other scandals, most notably players not getting paid their winnings. This included high profile players like former Jeopardy! champion Alex Jacob, who had difficulties claiming his winnings for a $20,000 game of HQ Trivia that he won.

HQ Trivia's demise was just a matter of time, but there were still thousands of dedicated fans who looked forward to play the trivia game every day. Whether they enjoyed the antics of former HQ Trivia host Scott Rogowsky, his replacement Matt Richards, and HQ Words host Anna Roisman or just had fun answering trivia questions, many still had a fun time with the live mobile game show. Perhaps a new live mobile game show will take its place. In the meantime, anyone who has winnings in their HQ Trivia account should attempt to claim them while they still have the chance.

HQ Trivia was available for iOS and Android mobile devices.

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Source: CNN