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HQ Trivia: Live game show app which lets you win money for free launches in UK

HQ Trivia has attracted thousands of players: HQ Trivia/ Twitter
HQ Trivia has attracted thousands of players: HQ Trivia/ Twitter

HQ Trivia - the popular US smartphone quiz show game which lets you win money for free - has launched in the UK.

The real-time quiz app proved to be wildly popular among an American audience after its launch in October 2017.

On Sunday, the UK version of the app was launched featuring questions geared towards a British audience.

The app was created by two of the former co-founders of Vine, Colin Kroll, and Rus Yusupov and is funded by venture capitalists and investors.

Following a similar format to the TV show, the app is hosted by a quiz master live twice a day.

Players can take part in two games a day and can receive notifications of when the quiz will begin.

All the quizzes are streamed live allowing the host to engage with the players as the game goes along. Players are also able to see who else is participating in the quiz.

For each question the player has ten seconds to answer, if they get it wrong then they are out of the game.

There are 12 multiple choice questions, if the player is able to answer them all correctly then they win the game.

The attraction of this particular app is that there is the possibility to win real money. Each HQ Trivia quiz has a prize pot, which varies from £1,400 ($2000) to £7,000 ($10,000).

But, the prize is split between all the winners of the game of which there are hundreds.

Although the app presents the player with the possibility of winning money for free, there are some loopholes in the app's terms and conditions that prevent players from claiming their prize immediately.

According to Vox, in the US version of the game winners are only able to cash out once they have won £14 ($20) and they only have 90 days to accrue this sum. It is not clear whether or not this rule applied to UK players.

But despite this, the game has attracted hundreds of thousands of players.

Jack Kent, a mobile media analyst at HIS Market told the BBC that he thinks that the possibility to win prize money is the initial draw of the game.

He also said: "The live streaming video, real presenters and interactive social and chat functions have all helped drive engagement," he said.

"The massive live audience had also helped boost its popularity, he added.”

However, he was not convinced that the game would be sustainable.

He continued: "Supporting a live massive multiplayer video experience is more difficult and more costly than other text and image-based titles," he said.

Mr Kent said in order for the app to continue to make money it would need to find other revenue streams such as advertising.

HQ Trivia is currently available on the iPhone, but it is anticipated than a version for android phones will be available soon.

The Standard has reached out to HQ Trivia for further comment.