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HQ Trivia is back less than two months after the app was shut down

HQ Trivia is back less than two months after the app was shut down

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Future game scheduling is up in the air

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HQ Trivia is being resurrected just a little over one month after co-founder Rus Yusupov announced that the app was shutting down.

A push notification went out to HQ Trivia players letting them know a new game will go live tonight at 9PM ET. The notification was followed by a tweet by co-founder Rus Yusupov confirming the return.

A source close to the company confirmed to The Verge the app is officially back, meaning this isn’t just a one-off event. Episodes will begin to air more regularly in the future, but the schedule is currently up in the air as things are figured out. The company has been acquired by a private investor who has asked not to be named, the source also confirmed.

First launched in 2017, HQ Trivia briefly became one of the most popular daily, live interactive quiz apps that found its player base through the promise of cash prizes. HQ Trivia faced a series of incidents that led to turmoil inside the company, according to CNN, including the death of co-founder Colin Kroll in December 2018.

On February 14th, Yusupov sent an email to staff letting them know that “lead investors are no longer willing to fund the company, and so effective today, HQ will cease operations and move to dissolution,” CNN reported.

Yusupov teased on Twitter in February that he was in negotiations with a company to bring HQ back. Part of the negotiations included paying severance to the 25 employees at HQ, and paying out players who still had cash winnings on the app.

“In its new home, we should expect HQ to go through some changes, especially to cover expenses, and be less buggy,” Yusupov tweeted on February 18th.

Tonight’s game will include a public service component that addresses the spread of the novel coronavirus, the source added.