A quiz app where you could stand to win huge sums of money always seemed too good to be true. HQ Trivia users would log on twice a day, and answer quiz questions posed by a life presenter. At its peak, it had almost two million concurrent players. But now, after two and a half years of operating, it's all over.
Hosts Matt Richards and Anna Roisman popped open a bottle of champagne and downed some tequila shots while Roisman begged for someone to hire her in the final game before the app shut down. Over the lifespan of HQ Trivia, more than $6 million (£4.6 million) was given out in cash prizes, but the final prize of just $5 (£3.83) was paid for out of Richards’ own pocket and split between 523 viewers. On Friday co-founder Rus Yusupov told employees that its investors were “no longer willing to fund the company” and plans for a new buyer fell through.
YouTube is still absolutely dominating online video
Since 2005, we have seen the rise and fall of Vine, Netflix has changed the way we consume video content, and TikTok has seen an explosion of internet trends and memes. But still going strong in the background is YouTube, launched 15 years ago on Valentine’s Day. According to data from AppAnnie, YouTube was the top streaming app in the world for Android phones, and in 2019 it took up 70 per cent of time spent on the top five streaming apps. With both long and short form content, alongside YouTube music, the platform has managed to stay on top, with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings even saying in 2019 that he wonders whether Netflix will ever be as big as YouTube.
TikTok is filled with pro-eating disorder content, despite its own rules
Despite the fact that TikTok tightened its community guidelines recently, users have said they are being exposed to potentially dangerous content. BuzzFeed News reported that the app is flooded with content promoting eating disorders, with people showing themselves fasting and sleeping all day to avoid eating. TikTok has a mysterious algorithm for how it decides which videos make it to a user’s For You page – you don’t have to be following someone to see a video appear there, meaning that this pro-eating disorder content can spring up without having shown interest in someone who posts it. TikTok’s own guidelines explicitly prohibit content that supports dangerous behaviour to lose weight, but Buzzfeed managed to easily find an account that claims to be run by a 13-year-old girl trying to lose weight through unhealthy means, and multiple popular TikTok videos about disordered eating.
The disastrous Uncharted movie is looking for its seventh director
Not one, not two but six directors have come and gone for the Uncharted movie. Based on the action-adventure game series, it has in the making for 12 years but finally it seems to be taking shape. Tom Holland has signed up to play a young Nathan Drake, and Mark Wahlberg is on board to play Sully. Supposedly the latest draft is one of the best scripts Holland has ever read, and will provide an origin story to the games that even those who haven’t played it will enjoy. However, fans will have to wait a little longer to see the finished product – Sony pictures has bumped back the release date to March 5, 2021.
The trailer for Stranger Things season 4 ramps up the mystery
Spoilers for seasons 1-3 below
The last season of Stranger Things had fans in turmoil after the supposed death of Hawkins’ police chief Jim Hopper. But in a short teaser released by Netflix on February 14, he appears to be alive and well, and working on a railway line in Russia. No one knows what happened after Hopper sacrificed himself to destroy the equipment the Russians were using to open the Upside Down – and Netflix has kept things vague.
A press release says Hopper is imprisoned in the snowy wasteland of Kamchatka, where he will face dangers both human and other. In America, a new threat is emerging that connects everything together, so its looking like we will see the return of Eleven, Mike and the rest of the gang, despite the fact that the Buyers family have moved out of Hawkins with Eleven in tow.
Maria Mellor is a writer for WIRED. She tweets from @Maria_mellor
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
