How Does HQ Trivia Make Money?

Last updated: Feb 18, 2020

Company: HQ Trivia
Founders: Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll
Year founded: 2017
CEO: Rus Yusupov
Headquarter: New York, NY
Number of Employees (2019): 25
Annual Revenue (2019): $10 million

Products & Services: Entertainment Software, Mobile Game, Trivia
Competitors: Trivia Crack, Quiz Up

Did you know that the two creators of HQ also created the popular video app, Vine?

HQ Trivia Introduction

HQ, also known as HQ Trivia, is a mobile app designed for playing trivia games. Players can play trivia on the app for free and win prize money. While playing, users have ten seconds to answer multiple-choice questions, which increase in difficulty as the player advances. The unique feature of HQ is a live broadcast of the game with a live game host. The shows are live broadcast from New York City.

On HQ’s live game show app, users can win cash prizes and play for free. Every day, users can tune into HQ to answer a trivia question and solve word puzzles ranging in difficulty level. 

HQ has had special guests and celebrities on live shows such as Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Robert De Niro, Gordon Ramsay, Neil Patrick Harris, and Alicia Silverstone.

HQ Sports

In 2018, HQ introduced HQ Sports, a bonus game where players answer sports-related trivia questions. Lauren Gambino, co-host of a fantasy football web show, hosted HQ Sports. HQ Sports is played every Monday and Wednesday at 8 pm ET. The standard cash prize jackpot for HQ Sports is around $1,000.

HQ Words

HQ Words is a word puzzle game designed in the style of the famous television game show Wheel of Fortune. Players spin the wheel to receive free letters that appear to them in the order of a specific puzzle. 

Players are given a series of twelve puzzles in which they fill in letters to complete words or short sentences. Winners for the game receive cash prizes ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

HQ Words has been hosted by Anna Roisman, Matt Richards, Timothy Dunn, and Neil Patrick Harris. The game is usually played on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

HQ Tunes

In 2019, HQ launched a new spinoff trivia game called HQ Tunes, where players have 10 seconds to answer questions. The game is hosted by Melody Alanna, a New York singer who also hosted a previous music trivia game. The game is played on Fridays.

HQ After Dark

HQ introduced a new version of the game called HQ After Dark in May of 2019. The After Dark version plays in the same format as the original Trivia, except that hosts are allowed to use swear words; users can interact directly with each other by responding to chats and can appear to drink on camera. There is no set time for HQ After Dark, but it usually occurs after midnight ET. The game is hosted by two members and occurs on a weekly basis.

HQX – Photo Challenge Game

The newest version of HQ includes a new game show called HQX, a live photo competition. Users compete for likes by completing a series of photo challenges and voting on other player’s submissions.

Users can show off their creativity and talents by taking photos of pets, original artwork, fashion, memes, and outdoor photography. Users can connect to other social media apps such as Facebook to share their most liked and other results. The new game show airs live on Sundays and Thursdays at 8 pm ET.

How does HQ Trivia make money?

The popularity of HQ and the opportunity for players to win cash prizes on the free app leads to the question: How does HQ make money?

For one, the company is backed through venture capital and raised $15 million in venture funding. In the beginning stages of the app, HQ Trivia prizes were paid by investors anticipating the game would become popular enough that additional revenue streams would open up.

1. Advertisement

For HQ and their investors, the risk turned into reward as HQ Trivia gained significant advertising deals with big companies such as Warner Bros. and Nike that allow the game show app to up their winning jackpots. Companies partnering with HQ Trivia will now have another large platform with a substantial audience to advertise and market. They have options to give away specific jackpots to winners of the games that will be relevant to the project or company sponsoring the prize and game.

HQ Trivia’s revenue source is advertisements in their programs, which they introduced in 2018. HQ began making revenue through sponsorships and promotions during their game shows. 

2. In-app purchases

For the game show app, In-app purchases continue to be HQ’s largest source of revenue. Through in-app purchases, HQ sells extra lives for its trivia games and “boots” for HQX. In 2019, HQ Trivia reported that they had made almost $6 million directly from in-app purchases.

Future Revenue Stream

HQ continues to diversify its revenue streams in addition to launching new games and bringing celebrity hosts on.

Furthermore, HQ has announced plans to introduce a subscription model in 2020, which allows players to buy extra lives in bulk and gain access to additional features within the game while continuing to release and diversify new games to draw in more players.

References & more information

• Featured Photo by Sean Benesh on Unsplash
• www.trivia.com

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