At the end of the summer in 2017, a strange mobile app had taken the world by storm. HQ Live had millions of viewers tuning in twice a day to engage in a massive game of trivia that gave out cash prizes to a few winners. Unfortunately, the immense popularity waned over time, with the eventual death of the app coming just a few months ago. Luckily, HQ Trivia is back from the dead thanks to an anonymous investor, just in time to save us from our coronavirus boredom.
— Rus (@rus) March 29, 2020 In addition to the $1,000 cash prize available to the winners of the game, Yusupov noted that players that were unable to cash out before the app folded would now have the opportunity to do so. Outside of Twitter threads, not much is known about who saved HQ Trivia from the graveyard of failed businesses. The intervention of an anonymous investor certainly adds another layer of intrigue to the decidedly dramatic past of the popular trivia app, but will that be enough to keep the lights on after the pandemic has subsided? Only time will tell. Video chat is obviously booming, with apps like Zoom and House Party seeing remarkably high new user counts this week. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ have also seen a surge, although privacy stats have risen along with it. Even laptops are experiencing an uptick, with more and more people realize that their home setup just isn’t cutting it during the lockdown. Suffice it to say, the coronavirus outbreak is having a wide and unpredictable effect on the world at large, and the consequences and benefits of the dramatic shift still remain to be seen.
