# HQ Trivia

> A live mobile quiz grew to a reported peak of 2.38 million concurrent players.

- Owner: Intermedia Labs
- Kind: Game
- Sector: Gaming
- Seed date: 2017-08-26
- Peak date: 2018-03-28
- Spread Score: 57 (Notable), v1.2
- Mechanics: Daily ritual, Platform jump, Press loop, Dupe economy, Controversy

## Summary

HQ launched on iPhone and spread through workplace play, Slack and Twitter reactions. Reported concurrency peaked in spring 2018 as brands sponsored prize games. Downloads then fell, and a failed acquisition led to its February 2020 shutdown.

## Timeline

- 2017-08-26 — Intermedia Labs (App stores) — Intermedia Labs released HQ Trivia for iPhone.
- 2017-10-17 — TechCrunch (Press) — TechCrunch published the first reported press coverage of HQ Trivia.
- 2017-10-29 — HQ players (App stores) — The Verge reported growth from about 4,000 to over 16,000 players per game in one week.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/hq-trivia

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “HQ Trivia.” Case HIS-00220. Spread Score v1.2: 57/100. Updated 2026-10-13. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-00220